Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac
by Dis Lexic
Summary: After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.
1. Chapter 1

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we're back with another Outsider Chronicles story set in the HP world. Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

You know, I've discovered a lot about death in the past 48 hours. I've discovered that it can really hurt, that their is life after death and that someone up their really must hate me. What am I talking about you ask? Well, lets start from the top.

I know that Death can hurt because I died. Yep, I'm a doornail. If your wondering how I died, I'm afraid that it wasn't really anything too impressive. A drunk driver hit me while I was walking home from a late night class. Of course, I didn't just go quietly, oh no, I got to experience all my bones breaking against the concrete barrier, my organs rupture and by muscles shredded. Fortunately, although it really hurt for a short time, it didn't take long for me to pass on. That brings me to the answer to the second question and how I can be telling this story.

After I lost consciousness, I regained it a few moments later. At first I thought it had just been a horrible dream, but then I opened my eyes and found that I was looking up at what looked like a giant face. It didn't really take long to figure out that the face wasn't giant, I was just really small. After that, it just took applying my geeky brain to figure out I was a baby and had just been reincarnated.

'But narrator,' I hear you say in a voice that sounds suspiciously like my own, 'if you've been reincarnated, why do you think someone hates you upstairs?'

Well my delightful readers, if you continue to listen, I will tell you. You see, although I have been reincarnated, I have not been reincarnated into the world I once called home and the family I have been reincarnated to is one I know very well from reading books and Fanfiction. Which family is it, you may ask, well, lets just say that my older (unfortunately) twin is a ferret with daddy issues, my father is a snake obsessed nutjobs loyal minion and my mother is related to a woman that makes the Joker look sane. If you need a quick translation, I'm a fucking Malfoy. This is going to be fun.

* * *

Oh. My. God, please, for the love of all things holy, please kill me now! Or better yet, kill my brother! We're barely four years old and he's already an arrogant little shit! He's been swaggering around the manor since he learnt to walk, regurgitating whatever he heard Father say to anything or anyone who will listen. I would call it youthful play, but Luceus is actually encouraging it!

Thats part of the reason why I prefer to spend time with Mother since she at least has a brain in her head. I think it helped that I seemed to take more after the Blacks than the Malfoys, having black hair and eyes, and the fact I could actually use my brain for more than whining to Father.

"Sit up!"

I jumped as a light stinging hex hit my backside and jerked upright, shooting my mother a glare, which was ignored.

"Pay attention Leo, this is important," said Mother, "You will be the Black Lord one day and you need to know all this."

Actually, I had my doubts about that. Their wasn't a chance in hell that Sirius would ever allow a Malfoy to obtain his fortune, not when Harry was still around. Not that I cared, I didn't want to be a Lord and, if I had it my way, I'd try and get Sirius out of prison. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to go about that. Aw well, maybe one day.

Also, yes, my name is Leo as in, the Lion. I have absolutely no idea why I was called that since dear ol' dad regularly makes jabs at Gryffindors.

I shook myself and refocused on the lesson before mother could tag me with another stinging hex.

* * *

"Urg, I really hate events like this," I groaned.

I was now seven years old and, as was custom in the Wizarding World, my parents had thrown a party to celebrate the first milestone in a young magicals life for Draco and I. Unfortunately, since we were a Pureblood family, that meant that most of the people here were politicians or 'imperiused' Death Eaters or both, meaning I was very, very bored and had no one to talk to. Well, their was Draco, but since he was practically lapping up all the attention he was receiving as the Malfoy heir, I was avoiding him like a plague. Sure, I was approached by more than a few suck ups, but I made a point to avoid such situations as much as possible and ending the conversation as quickly as possible where I couldn't.

"I agree with you completely," said a voice from behind me.

I turned and found myself looking at a boy my age with olive skin, black hair and sharp features.

"You're Leo Malfoy, correct?" Asked the boy, "I'm Blaise Zabini, a pleasure."

"Thats correct," I said, "Its nice to meet you Zabini. So, what can I do for you?"

"You looked as bored as I am, so I thought I'd come and join you," said Zabini.

I nodded and the two of us stood in silence, watching the party unfold around us.

* * *

It turned out that meeting Blaise was the one good thing that came out of that god awful party. Through him I was able to meet some of the other neutral families, who proved to be much smarter than both the Light and the Darks. While the light family's claimed to be for the protection of Muggles, they seemed to view them more as curiosities than people. The Neutrals actually willing to look at the Muggle World and see that they weren't still using horse and carts to get around. Thats not to say that they were entirely mundane savvy, but they were at least willing to learn.

I also gained a group of new friends so I no longer had to spend time with my idiot brother and his asskissers. My new companions were Blaise, obviously, Tracy Davis and Daphne and Astoria Greengrass. When I first met the girls, I actually had to take a double take. Why? Well, all three resembled characters I was pretty sure were fictional, even after ending up in a fictional world. What do I mean by that? Well, allow me to explain.

Daphne was already quite the looker, with an angular face that suited her stern attitude, long dark blue tinted hair and blue eyes with rather thick eyebrows. She was extremely intelligent, calculating, patient, while simultaneously unwavering and iron-fisted, even at the young age of seven. In other words, give her a school, a katana and a uniform made of life fibers and you'd have a dead ringer for Satsuki Kiryuin.

Not helping matters was the fact that Astoria had mid-length black hair, blue eyes and tended to wear a red collared shirt with a white skirt and white shoes. She was fierce, stubborn and refused point blank to give up, no matter what. Give her a red highlight in her fringe and a scissor blade and you'd have Ryuko.

Fortunately, Tracy wasn't anything like a character from Kill la Kill, thank god. Instead, she had short, blond hair with two long bangs that frame the sides of her head and golden eyes. She was a very relaxed, upbeat and cheerful person and had a complete lack of ladylike manners that often served to drive Daphne around the twist.

So to sum up, I am a 20 year old in the body of a seven year old, living in a world that I used to write fanfiction about, with friends that look and act like characters from Anime. I think I'm going to be suffering from a lot of migraines.

* * *

I don't think I've ever been more glad for a birthday to come than this lifes 11th. Oh don't get me wrong, growing up in a Wizarding household was extremely interesting, but it also meant that I had to spend time with Draco, who was getting worse. While him mimicking father was tolerable when we were younger, we were now at an age where you'd think he'd be able to think for himself. But, as I had expected, he was still spewing Pureblood bullshit philosophy and even had the nerve to accuse me of being a 'blood traitor' because I enjoyed spending time in the local Muggle town. That had been a fun argument as I completely demolished every argument he made with precision. These days he settled for snide comments and being a prick.

Fortunately, the arrival of our Hogwarts letters and subsequent shopping trip meant that I could get away from the little turd for a few hours and I jumped at the chance, suggesting that we should split up to get the trip done quicker. Of course, the first stop was to Gringotts to collect money for the trip. As father spoke to the Goblin teller, I couldn't help but notice that many of the Goblins kept shooting me odd looks.

After retrieving the money we needed, and being suitably creeped the hell out by all the Goblins staring at me, we headed to our first stop, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Naturally, Draco insisted on going first and, since Madam Malkins assistant was busy with another first year, I was made to wait while Father and Mother went of to collect our books and other supplies, trusting us to meet them at Ollivanders once we were done. Fortunately, the assistant was done with her customer soon after we arrived, so I wasn't waiting long. While I was being fitted, Madam Malkin finished with Draco and, with his usual brand of dickishness, he immediately left me, not that I really cared overmuch.

It did get me thinking though. While my memory of my previous life had faded somewhat, I did still remember most of the importent events of the books, including that Harry met Draco for the first time here. Made me wonder where Harry was.

As I thought that, the door opened and a small girl walked in, looking around with nervous, green eyed. That, combined with her jet black hair that was worn in twin tails, set of warning bells in my head.

"Hogwarts dear?" Asked Malkin.

The girl nodded and was directed to the fitting station next to me where Malkin began to pin the long robe to length. I eyed the girl I suspected to be the Potter of this world for a moment, before deciding to break the ice.

"Hello."

The girl jumped slightly and looked at me wearily from under her bangs, setting off a few more warning bells.

"I'm Leo Malfoy," I said, "Are you starting at Hogwarts this year to?"

The girl nodded minutely, but didn't say anything. Oh dear, this didn't look good.

"Well then, I hope that we can be friends," I said with a grin.

The girl looked surprised, before she gave a hesitant nod and a tiny smile.

"Alright luv, thats you done," said the assistant as she stood up and took the pinned robes off me.

I hopped down from the stool and moved to the counter to retrieve my purchases. As I passed her, the girl stopped me with a tug on my sleeve.

"Holly," was all she said.

Her voice was quiet and held a musical quality to it.

"Thats a pretty name," I said, smiling at her, "It suits you."

Holly blushed and ducked her head.

"I'll see you at school Holly," I said, waving over my shoulder as I left.

* * *

As soon as I was out of the shop, my smile slipped from my face to be replaced with a scowl. While I was far from qualified, anyone with eyes could see that Hollys home life was anything but pleasant, from the way she flinched slightly when Malkin touched her, to how painfully shy she was. While I wasn't 100% sure that she was the Potter yet, that didn't matter. No matter what, I'd make sure I did everything I could to get Holly somewhere safe and out of her shell. I took a breath and headed in the direction of Ollivanders, brushing past the familiar form of Hagrid as I went. I paused and watched as he stopped outside of Madam Malkins with two icecreams and was soon joined by Holly, who looked even tinier next to the massive half giant. Yep, she was the Potter allright. Time to step up my interference. But first, Wands and pets.

My first stop was Ollivanders, where I met Mother and was informed that Father and Draco had already bought Draco's wand and were now looking at Brooms. From the look in her eyes, I could tell that Mother shared my sentiments over our inconsiderate family members.

We entered the wand shop, which was absolutely tiny, although that may have been the effect of the looming shelves stuffed with wand boxes. Mother took a seat on the spindly seat in the room as I stepped up to the counter, peering around for the Wandmaker.

"Good afternoon," said a misty voice right in my ear.

I jumped and instinctively lashed out with my fist, only for it to be caught in an impressively strong grip.

"Most impressive Mr Malfoy," said Ollivander, "Its not often a pure blood reacts so quickly."

"Yeah, I'm not what you'd call normal," I said as my heartbeat slowed back to normal.

"Indeed…" murmured Ollivander, eyeing me through his big, misty eyes, before turning his attention to Mother.

"Yes yes, we know the drill," said Mother, cutting the old wandmaker off before he could list of her wands components, "Could we please get this over with? We are in a bit of a hurry."

"Of course madam," said Ollivander, not looking offended, ""Well, now Mr. Malfoy, Let me see."

He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket.

"Which is your wand arm?"

"I'm ambidextrous, but my right hand is dominant," I said, holding out the indicated arm.

"Ah, I see," mused Ollivander as he stepped forwards and began to measure me from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round my head. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance," he said, "We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

I noticed that the , which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Malfoy, try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

I took the wand and gave it a wave.

CRACK!

I blinked and looked at the piece of wood to see that it was now split straight down the middle.

"Oh my, that is most unusual," said Ollivander, taking the broken wand from me and examining the split.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I'm afraid that your magic is far too dense to use with a Wand, Mr Malfoy," said Ollivander.

I blinked.

"To dense?"

"Yes, its rare, but you occasionally find Magicals who possess an unusually dense magical core," said Ollivander as he returned the damaged wand to its box and waved his own, sending the boxes flying back to their places, "In such cases, the individual finds themselves unable to use a wand without damaging them."

"What does that mean for my son?" Asked mother, standing up, "Will he still be able to attend school?"

"Of course," said Ollivander, "In such cases, the individual simply needs a different type of focus. One moment."

He vanished into the back of his shop.

"Suddenly I'm very glad that Draco decided to go off on his own," I said, "Can you imagine what he'd say if he was here?"

Mother scowled and nodded.

"Unfortunately yes," she said, "Honestly, where did I go wrong with that boy? He's about as Slytherin as a Weasley!"

I decided not to mention that it was probably all fathers doing as he spoiled Draco rotten. Fortunately, at that moment, Ollivander reappeared, carrying a box, which he set on the counter and opened to reveal a number of different coloured gems.

"These are Focus Gems," said Ollivander, "They are ancient and powerful artifacts that were fairly common centuries ago. They can only be used by people whos magic is especially dense, which, as I mentioned, has become increasingly rare in recent years. The last person who was able to use one was Aberforth Dumbledore."

"How do they work?" Asked Mother, looking at the gems with interest.

"I believe that a demonstration would be better than an explanation," said Ollivander with a mysterious smile, "Mr Malfoy, would you pass your hand over the gems?"

I did as I was told and one of the gems shook slightly as my hand passed over it, before leaping into my hand where it began to glow brightly.

" **LOGGING ON, ZODIAC LANCE."**

I would have blinked that that if I didn't have my eyes closed from the sheer brightness of the light. I could feel something forming in my hand and, when the light faded and I could see, I was somehow unsurprised to see that it was a white and gold mechanical looking staff. The staff was just a little bit taller than me and looked like it was able to extend and shrink and was tipped with a gold spike at the foot and topped with a golden crescent moon shape with the white gem in the middle. The crescent was marked with the symbols of the 12 Zodiac in red.

"Huh, thats interesting," I said, examining the staff, "Bit unwieldy though."

" **FORM CHANGE, SEALED."**

The staff glowed and shrank down, morphing into a wand made of the same metal as the staff with a much smaller crescent and gem attached to the grip.

"Thats better."

"As you can probably tell, Focus Gems are partially sentent," said Ollivander, not looking at all surprised, "While it cannot be called truly alive, it is capable of acting on its own."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Asked mother.

"Not at all," said Ollivander, "They are fiercely loyal to the one they are bound to and will never disobey them. Here, this should answer any questions you have about the Gem."

He handed me a leather bound book, before shooing us out of the shop, waving payment as, in his words, 'the Gem was mine by right'. I decided I didn't really want to know what he meant by that.

* * *

Our next stop was the Magical Menagerie where Mother told me to pick a pet. I immediately passed up the owls and toads and went straight to the cats. Nothing against owls, but I'd always wanted a cat and toads...no, just no.

I browsed the cat isles, occasionally pausing in front of the cages, but largely just looking. I ignored the cage containing the large, orange form of a disgruntled Crookshanks, not wanting to deny Hermione her future pet, and moved onto a small enclosure that contained a number of kittens that were playing together. I crouched down next to the enclosure and watched them for a moment, before I noticed a kitten sat alone on the far side of the enclosure. Except it wasn't a kitten, well, not a cat kitten at least. It was a lion cub.

The baby lion seemed to notice my attention and looked up, meeting my eyes with its own. After a few moments of just staring at one another, the cub stood and padded over to the edge of the enclosure, stopping right in front of me. I reached out and let it sniff my hand, before it licked my palm and nuzzled me.

"Well, it looks like you've found your pet," said mother from behind me.

I picked up the cub and stood, cradling it in my arms.

"I guess so," I said.

The shopkeeper took one look at the cub in my arms and sighed.

"Well, I suppose it had to happen eventually," he said.

"What do you mean?" Asked mother.

"That little one has been here for ages," replied the shopkeeper, "Any time someone gets close to her, she scratches them. I think she was waiting for someone specific."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Shes a Nemean Lion cub," said the shopkeeper, making mother stiffen, "They are well known for only bonding with one Wizard. If you can hold her without her trying to claw your face of, then you're her master. Congratulations on finding your Familiar young man."

After paying for the cub and everything I needed to care for it (Which basically amounted to exactly what I needed for a regular cat, only beefed up to resist her claws and teeth), Mother and I left the shop with Lucy the Nemean Lion cub perched happily on my shoulder.

* * *

A month later, I was stood on Platform 9 ¾, looking up at the scarlet form of the Hogwarts Express, with Lucy on my shoulder, eager to get this new adventure of to a flying start.

 **And thats the end of the first chapter. I am aware that I was all over the place, but I kinda wanted to get to Hogwarts as fast as possible. Before we wrap this up, a few points.**

 **First, having dense magic does not mean that Leo has more magic than anyone else. He has exactly the same amount of magic as any other 11 year old. What it means is that his spells are more potent, however, he can't do anything that requires fine control, like healing or enchanting.**

 **Yes, I took character designs from Anime. It could be worse though, my original plan was to base Daphne and Astoria after Elsa and Anna and Tracy after Rapunzel.**

 **Be warned, this Harry/Holly will not be the same as in canon. While I don't intend to show it because I don't really think I can do it justice, this version of the Dursleys is really, really bad. As such, she is shy and almost completely without self worth and will latch onto the first person who offers here a kind word, in this case, Leo.**

 **And with that, I'm signing off. Until next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we are once again back. Since I don't have anything to address here, lets dive straight in. Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

After wishing our parents goodbye, Draco and I boarded the Express and immediately separated, with Draco moving off with his asskissers *ahem* I mean friends, Crabbe and Goyle, with Pansy Parkinson on his arm. I on the other hand, made my way further up the train in search of an empty compartment where I could wait for my friends to arrive. While waiting, I passed the time by reading the book on Focus Gems Ollivander had given me to get a better idea of what exactly Zodiac Lance was capable of.

Apparently, the staff was far more than a simple magical focus like a wand, instead it had a powerful AI built into it with enough computing power to put the theoretical Quantum Computers of my previous timeline to shame. Exactly how that was possible the book didn't say, but I guess the logical answer was simply magic. In addition to acting as a focus, the staff could also automatically create powerful barriers that went well beyond even the strongest shield spells, even able to block the Unforgivables, although doing that was hugely draining. They also had numerous built in spells that were capable of wide scale destruction. However, despite the fact I was now a human artillery unit, anything that required fine control was well beyond me, so no healing or Legilimency for me!

I was so engrossed in the book that I jumped when Tracy snapped her fingers right next to my ear. Apparently the others had arrived a few minutes ago and had been trying to get my attention.

"Sorry guys, but this makes for an interesting read," I said, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment.

"It looked it," said Daphne, "What is it?"

"Information on my wand," I said, holding up my focus.

"What about it?" Asked Blaise, "Looks like a normal wand to me."

"Zodiac, log on," I said.

" **ACKNOWLEDGED, ZODIAC LANCE POWERING UP."**

The wand glowed, before extending out into its active form.

"Woah, thats cool!" Exclaimed Tracy, leaning forwards to examine it.

"Thanks," I said, "Apparently my magics to dense to use a normal wand, so I have to use this. Not that I'm going to complain though. Logout."

" **POWERING DOWN."**

The staff shrank back down to wand form and was returned to the holster strapped to my arm. At that moment, Lucy, who had been sleeping in my robes, stuck her head out of my collar, blinking sleepily as she looked around at the newcomers.

"Daww, so cute!" Sqeed Tracy as she spotted the little lion, "Here kitty kitty!"

Lucy gave Tracy a look that could easily be translated as 'get this thing away from me!', before turning her head to the door. She hopped out of my robes and trotted to the door, batting it open with her paw and revealing Holly stood on the other side, looking even more nervous than she had entering Madam Malkins. The baby Nemean Lioness looked up at Holly for a moment, before rubbing against her legs, purring happily.

"Huh, that was unexpected," I said, "Lucy doesn't normally take to people that quickly."

I stood and picked up Lucy, before guiding Holly into the compartment and sitting her down, plonking Lucy in her lap where she curled up, purring happily as Holly hesitantly began to rub her ears.

"Guys, this is Holly," I said, "I met her in Diagon Alley. Holly, this is Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini and you've already met Lucy."

"Hello," said Holly quietly, eyeing the three Purebloods through her fringe.

The action also served to give us a clear look at her forehead, which, as expected, was marked with the familiar, lightning bolt scar. While some might have immediately acting like tits and scare the shy girl, my friends only reaction to spotting the scar was a slight intake of breath, before they ignored it. Again, the Neutral families used their heads more often than the Lights and Darks, preferring to step back and take everything in before acting. It would take a real idiot not to see that the last thing this shy girl needed was to be treated like some kind of hero.

* * *

Speaking of idiots, a short while later, after the train started moving, the compartment door opened to reveal the red-headed form of Ronald Weasley. Now, while I didn't really like Ron very much in my previous life, the fact Harry was a girl here meant I was willing to give him a chance. Well, unless…

"Oh, wrong compartment," said Ron with a sneer, "There's no way Holly Potter would be sitting with a bunch of slimy snakes like you."

He did that. The moron shut the door, leaving three angry Purebloods and a highly exasperated me.

"What a moron," I said, "I pity the fools who have to share a dorm with him."

"Speaking of, what houses do you guys want to get into?" Asked Tracey.

"Ravenclaw," I responded immediately, "I know I won't fit into Hufflepuff, Gryffindors right out, even if its just because I don't want to put up with my brothers ranting and there's no way I'm sharing a common room with Draco for the next seven years."

That triggered a discussion between Daphne, Tracey and Blaise over houses and which would be best to be in. I just sat back and pulled out a cat toy that I used to play with Lucy. Holly seemed content to just sit and watch the discussion, still petting Lucy. The lion cub looked like she was in heaven as she batted at the catnip filled toy in front of her while Holly rubbed her belly.

* * *

Things continued in this vein until lunchtime rolled around and we were interrupted by the snack trolley. After we pooled our funds and buying enough sweets to feed Ron Weasley in the average bashing story for 10 minutes, the others resumed their conversation while Holly curiously studied the wizarding sweets, particularly the Cauldron Cakes. Noticing her interest, I grabbed one of the cakes and offered it to her.

"Here, it won't bite," I said.

Holly looked hesitant, before taking the small cake and, with another nervus look at me, took a tiny bite. She froze, her eyes widening slightly, before the cake vanished in a flash and she was licking the chocolate residue of her hands.

"Cute," I muttered before I could stop myself.

Holly blushed brightly and ducked her head, but not before shooting the pile of cauldron cakes on the seat a look of longing. I suppressed the urge to give the girl a hug, instead pushing the stack of cakes towards her. Her eyes lit up and she shot me a grateful and surprised look, before going to work on the chocolaty treats.

"Not a word," I said, pointing at Tracey and Blaise, who were grinning at the exchange.

"I have no idea what you mean," said Blaise, going back to the book he was reading.

Tracey on the other hand had no such quarms.

"Daww, thats so cute!" She said, "Little Leos got a crush!"

I immediately went red and hid my face behind a book as the others burst out laughing, including Daphne. I shot her a betrayed look, which she responded to with a grin. I glanced at Holly, but she was to distracted with her cakes to notice the exchange. However, that didn't change the fact that she looked absolutely adorable as she bit into the cakes, her eyes closed and little blushes of pleasure on her cheeks. If this was an Anime, I had no doubt that she'd be a chibi with floppy dog ears and a big, fluffy tail. It didn't really help that the ribbons she wore in her hair did actually look a bit like ears and seemed to be twitching in response to her emotions.

Fortunately, a distraction arrived before I could succumb to the desire to squeal like a girl and hug Holly, losing my man card in the process. Curse my weakness for cute things!

The distraction in question was a knock at the door, which opened to reveal a nervous looking Neville Longbottom and a bossy looking Hermione Granger.

"Can we help you?" I asked, doing my best to keep the releaf out of my voice.

"Has anyone seen a toad, Neville heres lost one," said Hermione.

I winced at the tone in her voice, a faint hint of condescendence and bossyness. Oh dear, I really hope I can do something about that before it gets her in trouble.

"Sorry, we haven't," said Tracey.

"Hang on," I said as they turned to go, "Let me try something."

I pulled my wand out.

"Whats your toads name?" I asked, ignoring the curious look Hermione was giving my wand.

"Um, Trevor," said Neville.

"Accio Trevor the Toad," I said, waving my wand towards the door.

Their was a startled croak and a large, fat toad shot into the compartment and into my hand. I handed the slimy critter over to Neville with a grimace. I hate toads.

"What spell was that?" Asked Hermione once Neville was done thanking me, "I didn't see it in any of our course books."

"Thats because the summoning charm isn't taught till the fourth year," said Daphne, "It requires decent amount of focus to pull off and most 11 year olds aren't capable of it."

I shrugged and slipped my wand back up my sleeve.

"Really?" Asked Hermione, looking intrigued, "But I thought First years couldn't cast upper year spells. I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

I sighed deeply as my companions shot looks at one another, a little taken aback by the speed of Hermiones speech.

"Some spells require too much magic for First Years to pull off, which is why their not taught until later" I said, "The Summoning Charm is not one of them. As for our names, this is Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini, Tracey Davis and Holly."

My pureblood friends nodded as I pointed at each, maintaining the 'proper Pureblood image' before the scion of the Longbottom family. Holly meanwhile was eyeing the newcomers wearily as seemed to be normal for her.

"And I'm Leo Malfoy."

The reaction was immediate as Neville paled and Hermione scowled. I sighed as I took in their expressions.

"Let me guess, you've already met my idiot twin? Well you don't need to worry, I'm nothing like Draco."

Neville relaxed slightly, but Hermione still looked weary.

"But I read that the Malfoys are a Dark family," she said.

Daphne, Tracey and Blaise all winced at that and sat back to watch the fireworks. My face immediately went completely blank.

"I suggest you leave Miss Granger," I said, my voice perfectly level.

I _hated_ being tarred with the 'Dark' brush just because of my last name. While I highly doubted I'd ever be considered 'Light', I was very much Grey thank you very much! Hermione looked surprised at my sudden change of mood, but I was too busy suppressing the urge to blast her with Zodiac Lance to notice.

"But…"

"I agree we Leo, Granger, you should leave," said Daphne.

"Yeah, he really doesn't like being marked as Dark because of his family name," said Tracey, eyeing my clenched fists, "The last idiot who did that ended up with a broken jaw."

That got Hermione moving and she vanished with Neville in tow. I took a deep breath and tried to get my temper under control before I put my fist through the window or something. An odd affect of having dense magic was that it also affected the body, making muscles and bones denser and thus, stronger. While not superhuman, my strength was definitely higher than the average 11 year old boy. I was distracted from my anger when a small hand touched mine and I looked up to find myself looking into a pair of large, green eyes. Holly and I stared into one another's eyes for a moment, before I nodded and relaxed, my anger ebbing as quickly as it had risen. Despite not saying a word, Holly had still managed to convey a sense of understanding. Of course she did, she'd know all about being associated with a label assigned by others. I smiled at Holly, before looking down at Lucy as she hopped into my lap and curled up, providing another source of comfort.

I also pointedly ignored the looks I was getting from the others.

* * *

The next annoyance didn't come until the sun set and the lamps turned on, shortly after we all changed into our school robes and was, as expected, my idiot brother and his sycophants.

"Ah, here you are Leo," he said, "I've been looking for you all trip."

" _Yeah right,"_ was the thought going through all our heads.

"I was hoping that you'd come and join me in my compartment," continued Draco, "It is, after all, only proper for us to sit together."

"Sorry Draco, but I'm sitting with my friends," I said, indicating to my companions.

This also served to draw Dracos attention to Holly.

"Oh, and whos this?" Asked Draco, barging into the compartment as if he owned the place, "Whats your name girl?"

Holly shrank back behind me in response to Dracos harsh tone and how he was looming over her.

"Well? Answer me?"

I grabbed Dracos arm and shoved him away from Holly, placing myself between them.

"Enough, Draco," I snapped, "Can't you see you're scaring her?"

Draco looked like he was going to argue, but the sight of Daphne, Blaise and Tracey fingering their wands and Lucy stood at my feet, hackles raised and teeth and claws bared made him think twice. He turned on his heel and marched out of the compartment, pausing at the door.

"You should be careful, brother," he said, "Raising your hand against your future head of house like that."

I raised my eyebrow at the threat.

"Draco, I am the heir to the Black Lordship," I said.

Draco scowled at that little reminder. Due to the laws of the Magical World, the oldest child always inherited the fathers name, meaning that Draco would one day be Lord Malfoy, while the rest of the children inherited any other Lordships from the mothers side. Since their was (officially) no Lord Black at the moment, that meant that, should Sirius snuff it without a will, the Black Lordship would automatically default to me. And that particular Law was one of Merlin's Laws, the cornerstone laws of the Magical World that could not be changed by anyone other than Merlin's heir.

Draco stormed out of the compartment, leaving me to sit back down. I turned to Holly, intending to ask if she was OK, only to be confronted with a look of awe and gratitude that was actually a little intimidating.

"Nicely handled Leo," said Blaise.

Just then, a voice echoed through the train.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

We all began to pack everything up, including the few sweets that hadn't been eaten. Lucy would have been put back into her cat crate, but she point blank refused to leave Holly, which was understandable since the girl now looked really scared. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, doing my best to ignore the slight flinch. She seemed to draw some strength from my touch however and shot a small smile at me.

* * *

The train slowed right down and finally stopped, heralding a crush of people in the halls as everyone pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. We stayed in our compartment until the crush died down slightly before following. The air outside was cold, making me glad I'd payed a bit extra for robes with warming charms built in. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students from one end of the platform, followed by a deep, heavily accented voice.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Holly?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads, causing Holly to shrink back behind me slightly. Hagrid didn't seem to notice however and continued to call for the first years.

"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

We followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path, slipping and stumbling over exposed roots and in wet mud. Nobody, being too focused on trying to keep their balance.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. I took in the sight of Hogwarts laid out before me, mentally noting that the real thing was about 100 times more impressive than how it appeared in the films.

" _Well, lets get this party started."_

 **And thats the end of this chapter! As always, a few things.**

 **First, no, I am not bashing Hermione. Like in canon, she's going to start out as fairly grating and it might take a while for her to completely shed all of her annoying qualities, but she is going to be a friend.**

 **Rons a moron. No change their.**

 **Magic affecting Leos strength. I don't really think that it's too far out of the realms of possibilities. The idea of magic having an affect on the body is one that has been covered in other storys, mine just happens to be a bit more specific. Well, specified in a different way than most. I mean the normal trope is magical power affecting the size of people *ahem* 'assets'.**

 **So heres a question, should I have Holly get a Focus Gem in the future after the Horcrux is destroyed? If so, I'd kinda like to see what you'd like it to look like and what abilities it should have based on its name, Black Eclipse. If the answer is yes, the best idea will likely be used.**

 **Until next time, please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we are back! Man, two in one day, near enough. I wonder how long I can keep this up? Anyway, Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

After sailing across the lake, something that had Holly and Lucy clinging to me a little too tightly, Hagrid lead us up a long flight of stone steps to where Professor Mcgonagall was waiting for us.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid, indicating to us with a huge wave of a hand.

"Thank you, Hagrid, I will take them from here," said the Transfiguration Teacher, before turning to us, ""Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.

The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose, before turning and vanishing into the Great Hall, leaving us to talk amongst ourselves. The inevitable topic was what exactly the Sorting Ceremony entailed, with theories ranging from tests to wrestling a troll. That comment drew a snort from me.

"What's so funny, Snake?" Snapped Ron, the person who made the suggestion.

"Sorry, it's just that I think your brothers might have been having you on," I said, ignoring the snake comment, "A troll could easily smush just about anyone in this school into paste with a single strike, with the possible exception of Hagrid. Oh, and I doubt it will be a test either since we haven't actually learnt anything yet."

That was for Hermione's benefit, who looked like she was about to start hyperventilating.

"Oh yeah, well then, if your so smart, what do you think it is?" Snapped Ron, trying to glare holes into me.

"Hmm, probably a simple test where you have to wear an enchanted item that reads your personality to determine where you'd best fit," I said, "Most likely a hat of some sort."

Ron snorted.

"Yeah right, as if," he said, before glancing around once more.

He'd been looking around constantly since we arrived and I could probably guess what, or to be more accurate, who, he was looking for.

"Looking for someone Weasel?" Asked Draco.

"Shut up Malfoy!" Snapped Ron, "I'm going to be friends with the Girl-Who-Lived!"

Holly shrank a behind me a little at that and I sighed. It looks like its going to be one of those worlds. Fortunately, a distraction arrived in the form of about twenty ghosts that had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at us as they continued their argument.

"Forgive and forget, I say," said one that looked like a fat little monk, "We ought to give him a second chance..."

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed us staring at them with expressions ranging from fear to interest. However, before anyone could answer, one of the ghosts spotted me and gave a little gasp.

"Oh my," she said as she drifted closer, "Arnt you an interesting one...Hmm, yes, very interesting indeed."

I blinked.

"Pardon me madam but, whats interesting?" I asked, "I'm just a normal 1st year."

"A normal first year with unusually dense magic," said the ghost, "Its been years, decades even, since someone like you has come to the school. If you get into Ravenclaw, I'd love to examine your Focus Gem."

"So long as you don't mind sharing some stories of your time here, I'd be happy to," I said with a smile.

"Deal," said the ghost, before drifting after her fellows as they left.

"What was that all about?" Asked Hermione.

"None of your business," I said shortly, still a little sore with the girl.

Hermione looked a little put out, but before she could respond Mcgonigal returned.

"We're ready for you now," she said.

* * *

She lead us through the doors and into the Great Hall which, I have to admit, took my breath away, despite the fact I knew what to expect. As with the first view of Hogwarts, their was just something about the magnificent room that simply could not be replicated by Hollywood.

It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting, tables laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting in front of the four massive hourglasses that served to count the house points. Professor McGonagall led us straight up towards the head of the hall, in full view of everyone else, hundreds of faces staring at us, shining like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. I glanced down at Holly, who seemed to have glued herself to my side under the gazes of so many people, hugging Lucy to her chest like a lifeline.

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like forever, we reached the head of the room where the Sorting Hat sat on the four-legged stool, looking just as frayed and dirty as I was expecting. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched and a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song and bowed to each of the four tables and then became still again.

"Told you," I muttered, earning myself a glare from Ron.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. Their was a moment's pause, before...

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled offto sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them. The Sorting continued in this vein, with Daphne and Tracey ending up in Slytherin and Hermione going to Gryffindor, as expected, drawing a groan from Ron, before he went back to searching desperately for Holly. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR."

Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag." Draco swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Then it was my turn. I stepped up to the stool, ignoring everyone else as the hat covered my eyes.

" _Oh my word, this is an interesting mind,"_ said the Hats voice.

" _Tell anyone and I set you on fire,"_ I thought.

" _Oh don't worry Mr...Malfoy I suppose since thats who you are now, I am bound to keep any secrets I find in a student's mind. Hmm, this is fascinating and rather horrifying stuff. I assume you intend to do what you can to avert some of these disasters?"_

" _I do."_

" _Hmm, in that case, I would say that Gryffindor would be a good place for you…"_

" _HELL NO!"_

" _Quite, it would be a poor choice, as would Hufflepuff. That leaves only Slytherin and Ravenclaw and, judging from what I've seen here, putting you wiht your brother will likely lead to disaster. So, my choice is…_

" **RAVENCLAW!"**

I took of the hat and moved to the Ravens table amid polite applause, sitting where their was a bit of space so their would be room for Holly if she followed me which, judging from how she'd been acting around me, was very likely. The Sorting continued with no surprises, until…

"Potter, Holly."

Immediately whispers broke out as everyone strained to get a look at the GWL. Said girl looked ready to bolt at all the attention, before her eyes met mine. She seemed to steel herself, before summoning her courage and stepping forwards. Her incredibly small stature made the large Sorting hat look truly comical, but no one laughed as they waited with bated breath for its decision. It didn't take long.

" **RAVENCLAW!"**

A stunned silence filled the room for a moment as Holly removed the hat and scurried over to me, before the applause started, with me and my friends, naturally. From their it spread until she got the proper welcome she deserved. I gave the small girl a one armed hug as she sat down next to me and smiled down at her, which she hesitantly returned.

* * *

I tuned out the next few students as I scanned the head table, checking the teachers of my mental list and making a mental note to keep an eye on Quirrelmort and Snape. That said, when my eyes landed on Snape, I was surprised to see that he was looking at Holly, not with loathing, but with confusion. Actually, that wasn't all that surprising. After all, there was no way in hell that anyone, not even Snape, could look at Holly and think that she was in any way arrogant. From Snape, I looked to Dumbledore and saw that he to was looking our way. However, as soon as I met his eyes I knew I'd have my work cut out for me keeping Holly safe. I could practically see the gears turning in his mind as he tried to plan for this new variable. However, I mentally stopped myself before I could label the old man as a threat. Like with Ron, until Dumbledore did something wrong, I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

I was distracted from my thoughts of Dumbledore a moment later when the Hat suddenly burst out laughing.

"BWAHAHAHAHA, Ravenclaw? You think you can get into the House of the Wise?" Said the Hat between peals of laughter, "Oh dear creators, thats the best laugh I've had in years!"

Ron, who was the person under it of course, went beat red. The Hat, who had just started to calm down, immediately burst out laughing again.

"BWAHAHAHAHA, Merlins beard, thats an even funny notion!" Said the Hat, "Sorry kid, but that spots already been taken and you don't have a chance. Oh, lets get this over with before I split! **GRYFFINDOR!"**

That did not go down well with Ron however.

"No you dumb piece of fabric, put me in Ravenclaw!" He shouted, wrenching the hat off.

"Mr Weasley, control yourself!" Snapped Mcgonagall.

"But Professor..!"

"Now go join your house before you put them in the red before lessons even begin!" Said Mcgonagall, cutting him off.

Ron huffed, but did as he was told, glaring across the table at me as if it was all my fault which, to be fair, it probably was. With the Sorting now over, Dumbledore stood, beaming at us, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see us all here.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat down and the plates filled with food of all sorts. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

I immediately started helping myself, passing a few small chunks to Lucy where she was under the table. Holly seemed a bit hesitant at first, but was soon eating happily, clearly enjoying the meal.

I largely kept out of the conversations going on around me, until the conversation turned to families and everyone looked at me.

"What?"

"No comments to make Malfoy?" Sneered Terry Boot.

"No, should I?" I asked.

"Everyone knows how vocal Malfoys are about blood purity," said Boot, not losing his sneer.

I sighed and put down my cutlery.

"Alright, I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. I am nothing like either my Father or Brother. The amount of shits I give about a person's blood status is precisely none. I don't care if your Pureblood, Half-blood, Muggleborn or even creature blooded, I'll treat you the same as you treat me. And if anyone assumes to know what I feel about something because of my family name, I will ignore you."

Everyone in hearing range stared at me in surprise. I ignored them and went back to feeding Lucy. Eventually, the conversations started back up again as people got over the idea of a tolerant Malfoy. Eventually, the conversation came back around to me.

"Thats an unusual cat Leo," said the older student sitting across from me who introduced herself as Penelope Clearwater, fifth year Prefect.

"Thats because shes not a cat," I said, scratching Lucy behind the ear as she chewed on a hunk of lamb, "Shes a Nemean Lion cub. She also happens to be my Familiar, so shes perfectly safe unless someone threatens me or Holly. Then you may get your face clawed off."

"Why Holly as well?" Asked another upper year, "Normally Familiars are only protective of their master."

"Not a clue," I said, "But she seems to have taken a shine to her."

After that, the conversation turned away from me again as the desserts were demolished. Finally, after everyone was stuffed to bursting, the desserts disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet. The instantly hall fell silent.

"Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

I sighed as muttering started up around the hall. I could tell just by looking that at least 10 different people at the Gryffindor table would find their way to the Third Floor before the week was over. With Dumbledores speech over, we all prepared to move out, with us First Year Ravenclaws following Penelope and the male Prefect, Robert Hillard to the entrance of the common room. After explaining how the riddle worked, they let us in and explained where the boys and girls dorms were.

"Now, I'm sure your all tired, so get off to bed," said Penelope, "Professor Flitwick, our Head of House, will be holding a House meeting tomorrow before breakfast, so make sure you get up on time. Good night everyone."

Everyone started trooping upstairs, eager to find their pillows. I went to follow my dorm mates, but before I could, someone tugged on my sleeve. I looked at Holly, who looked upset.

"Whats wrong?" I asked.

Holly shook her head.

"Don't want to be alone," she said.

"Hey, don't worry," I said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Holly shook her head again and I sighed. She wasn't going to let this go. I glanced down at Lucy, who had been following at my heels the whole way up. The little lion looked at me for a moment, before nodding and padding over to Holly.

"I can't go with you, but Lucy can," I said, "Is that alright?"

Holly hesitated, before nodding and letting go of my sleeve.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, I promise," I said, gently rubbing her head.

Holly looked up at me, searching my eyes for any hint of a lie, before slowly nodding. And heading up to the girls dorm with Lucy at her heels. I let out a sigh and suppressed the urge to go kill the Dursleys, who I had no doubt were responsible for Hollys state, before heading upstairs to bed.

 **And thats it, the end of chapter 3! I hope I'm not overdoing Hollys vulnerability, but to be fair, she has just gained her first friend, so its not that surprising that she'd be hesitant to let him out of her sight. Anyway, next time, a confrontation with Ronald, first lesson and a visit to the hospital wing! Until then, please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we are back for more hijinks with Leo! Before we begin, I would like to credit Lupine Horror with the basic premise of Flitwicks speech. I'm also not going to try and replicate Hagrids accent, so you'll have to do that yourselves. With that out of the way, lets begin!**

Chapter 4

The next morning dawned bright and early with Robert hammering on the door to the First year boys Dorm.

"Wake up kids, its time for Flitwicks welcome speech!" He shouted as we all tumbled out of bed.

I grumbled about damned early birds as I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled into the bathroom. Five minutes later, I was heading downstairs where I was immediately hit by a small ballistic missile. I looked down and was unsurprised by the sight of Holly clinging to me. I chuckled and rubbed her head.

"And good morning to you Holly," I said.

Holly let go of me and took a step back, blushing slightly.

"Ah, its always a delight to see new friendships start," said Flitwick in his squeaky voice.

The diminutive teacher was stood on a podium so he was at head height with us.

"Mr Malfoy, it has been brought to my attention that you have a Dense Core, correct?" He asked.

I nodded.

"Thats right sir."

"I see, I shall inform the rest of your teachers," said Flitwick, "I assume that you are aware of the problems you may experience until you get accustomed to your magic?"

I nodded. A side affect of having a dense core was having problems the exact opposite of most new Magicals. Most 11 year olds when they first start learning have problems with underpowering their spells. Those with a Dense Core tended to overpower their spells, which could be quite dangerous.

"Excellent, I trust that you will be careful?"

I nodded again.

"Yes sir."

Flitwick nodded.

"Excellent."

He turned back to the room at large as the rest of the house began to trickle in.

"Is everyone here?" Asked Flitwick as the last few stragglers jogged down the stairs, "Excellent. Now, as you were informed last night, our Common Room doesn't have a password, instead you have to answer a riddle. If you can't answer, you will need to wait for someone else to come along. It is meant to keep our minds sharp, so don't be caught of guard.

Now, as I'm sure you noticed on your way up, the castle is prone to changing, however, I do have some enchanted maps that will help you find your way around if you wish. They aren't perfect I'm afraid, but its better than nothing.

Now, onto something a little more serious. I strongly suggest that all First Years drop by to see Madam Pomfrey, especially the Muggleborns. You will need to get boosters for any vaccinations you require, understand?"

The first years all nodded.

"Excellent. I hold meetings with individual students once a month in my office, the schedule for which is on the notice board, but if you have any problems, my door is always open to you. With that, the only things left for me to do is hand you your timetable and wish you a good year at Hogwarts, thank you."

He stepped down from the podium as the Prefects stepped forwards with a sheaf of papers each that turned out to be our timetables and we were let go for breakfast.

* * *

"There, look."

"Where?"

"Next to the tall kid with the black hair."

"You mean that little girl?"

"Did you see her face?"

"Did you see her scar?"

I scowled at the whispers, fingering my wand, extremely tempted to activate Zodiac Lance and try out some of its built in spells on the idiots. Fortunately, it didn't seem that Holly noticed. The girl seemed to be much happier today for some reason, although why I'm not exactly sure. Still, it was nice to see her smiling, so I put the idiots out of my mind and decided to just enjoy my first day at Hogwarts.

* * *

The maps provided by Flitwick quickly proved to be worth their weight in gold as they allowed us to get to class in a reasonable amount of time and without getting lost, something which the other Houses unfortunately lacked. I made a point of obtaining a few maps for Daphne, Tracey and Blaise after they complained about getting lost to me, earning me a few points from Flitwick in the process for being a good friend. The classes were pretty much as I expected honestly, so I won't bother describing them. The only real difference was in the first Transfiguration lesson of the term when Mcgonagall set us to transfiguring matches. My first attempt proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that having a Dense Core was going to be a pain when I accidentally turned my whole desk into a giant needle instead of my matchstick. Fortunately, Flitwick had already informed Mcgonagall about my issue and so she just clicked her tongue, turned the desk back and suggested that I try meditation to get my magic under control.

After that particular class, which, along with Charms, was shared with the Gryffs, Ron tried to accost Holly and I, but a quick use of a hidden passage and a shifting staircase meant that we were on our way to our next lesson, leaving the idiot in the dust on our way to our next lesson, that just so happened to be Potions with the Hufflepuffs.

* * *

The lesson started out exactly as expected, with Snape taking the register, before giving his spiel

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. . . . I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

His eyes swept the room, momentarily lingering on Holly and I, before moving on.

"Miss Bones," said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

The red headed Hufflepuff jumped at the sudden question.

"Er, I think its the Draught of Living Death?" she said.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Snapped Snape.

"The Draught of Living Death sir," said Susan.

"Correct," said Snape, "Miss Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Holly jumped slightly at being addressed directly.

"T-the stomach of a g-goat s-sir," she said.

"Correct," said Snape, "And one more I think. Mr Malfoy, what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

"Nothing sir, they are the same plant," I answered.

"Correct again," said Snape, looking pleased, "It seems that you are not all Dunderheads. Well, why aren't you writing this all down?"

Their was a flurry of activity as those who hadn't been taking notes hurried to do so, before Snape, sorry, make that Professor Snape, began the lesson. And by that I mean actually taught us, not just put the recipe on the board and had us go from their. My respect my brothers Godfather shot up a few notches by the end of the lesson.

As an added bonus, as we didn't have Ron or Neville in our class, no cauldrons were melted and everyone got out of the lesson without being hurt, other than a few minor burns that came with working with hot materials and open fires.

* * *

The next day, Holly received a letter from Hagrid vier Hedwig, who she had still received from said half Giant inviting her tea and, after blasting me with the most adorable pair of puppy dog eyes I'd ever seen, managed to drag me along with her, as well as Daphne, Tracey and Blaise, who we ran into on our way out .

"She could be a deadly weapon with those eyes," muttered Bliese as we followed Holly down towards Hagrids hut, "Although, I have to say, its nice to see her so happy.

Happy was an understatement. I'm not entirely sure what was going on the the Girls Dorm, but every day, Holly seemed more and more happy and just a bit more confident. Oh she was still shy and didn't volunteer anything in lessons, but she spoke more and was becoming more outgoing with our housemates and the 'Neutral Three' as Blaise, Daphne and Tracey were known.

It didn't take long to reach Hagrid's hut and Holly knocked on the door. Almost immediately, a frantic scrabbling could be heard from inside, along with several booming barks. Holly paled and practically teleported behind me, peeking out as Hagrid's voice rang out.

"Back, Fang, back!"

The door opened, revealing Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack.

"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."

He let us in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound, which Holy was eyeing wearily as she kept me between her and it. It was probably a good thing that Lucy was off somewhere since the lion cub was growing up quickly and was now about the size of Fang and was likely about ten times more dangerous. There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"What the bloody hell are they doing here?" Demanded an unfortunately familiar voice from the table.

"I could ask you the same thing Weasley," said Daphne cooly.

"Shut it you Slimy snake!" Snapped Weasley, "I don't have to tell you anything! Why don't you go back to kissing Malfoys ass!"

SMACK!

Ron recoiled, a red handprint on his cheek as the rest of us stared in shock. While Ron getting slapped wasn't that surprising, it wasn't Daphne that had done it. It was Holly.

"I think you should leave Ron," said Hagrid, looking disappointed.

"But…"

"Now."

I stared at Hagrid as Ron stormed out, not sure what to make of Hagrids response.

"I'm sorry about that Daphne," said the Half Giant after we had all introduced ourselves and he invited us all to sit down.

"I'll admit I'm a little surprised," I said as Hagrid bustled around, making tea, "No offence, but I was expecting to take Weasleys side."

Hagrid chuckled as he placed a gigantic mug in front of each of us.

"None taken Leo," he said, "I understand why you'd think that, but the truth is I prefer to get to know people as individuals, not base my opinion on house or family name. It was your mother who taught me that Holly."

Holly looked up at the big man in surprise.

"Plus, I knew Daphne and Traceys parents when they were at school. They were good people, still are."

The two girls nodded and smiled at Hagrid.

"I see, well, I'm sorry for my assumption," I said.

"Ah, think nothing of it," said Hagrid with a smile.

Unfortunately, open mind aside, Hagrid's cooking was the same as it was depicted in the books, but he did have some interesting stories about all our parents and Tracey who loved animals, was having a good time fussing over Fang, who was happily drooling on her lap. I also noticed the Prophet cutting on the Gringotts break in, but I didn't mention it as to avoid ruining the jovial atmosphere as Hagrid was telling a story of a prank Tracey and Daphnes mothers had played on my Father.

* * *

The next day, Holly and I went to the Hospital Wing as Flitwick has suggested for a check up. After giving me a quick scan and a few booster potions, Poppy declared me perfectly healthy and sent me on my way after giving me back my shirt. Apparently Diagnostic spells worked better if they didn't have to get through clothing, who knew?

Anyway, I stepped back out of the curtained off area Madam Pomfrey was using to give the check ups as Holly was called in. I was about to start reading one of the chapters we had been assigned for homework, when Madam Pomfrey gave a startled gasp. Without thinking, I leaped to my feet and darted around the curtains, only to freeze at what I saw. Holly was sat on the bed with her back to the entrance, her shirt off. She was still wearing a vest, but that didn't do much to hide the mass of scars that covered her back.

"Merlin's beard," whispered Madam Pomfrey, her eyes wide, "Who did this?"

"I can guess," I hissed, my eyes narrowing, "Her family."

"Is that true Miss Potter?" Asked Pomfrey, apparently too shaken to scold me.

Holly glanced back at me, before looking away and nodding with shame in her eyes.

"I see," said Madam Pomfrey, looking angry, "Well, I shall be taking this to Professor Dumbledore once we are done here. Rest assured Miss Potter, I will make sure that you will not be going back to those... _people_ again. Mr Malfoy, do you mind stepping back outside?"

I nodded and went to leave.

"Wait.."

I paused and looked back. Holly was looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Don't go."

I glanced at Madam Pomfrey, who sighed and nodded.

"Alright, if Miss Potter doesn't mind, you can stay."

I nodded and sat next to Holly on the bed as Madam Pomfrey finished her examination. By the end of the scans, the Nurse looked ready to kill something, but instead disappeared for a few moments, returning with a tub of cream.

"Here, this should help with the scarring," she said, "I'm afraid they're too old for me to heal them completely, but this should help reduce them. Apply it every night before bed and let it dry."

"Thank you," said Holly, taking the tub.

"No trouble at all Miss Potter," said Madam Pomfrey, "Now, of you'll excuse me, I need to go and talk to the Headmaster."

She marched out of the Hospital Wing. I was tempted to get her to call the DMLE instead, but since Dumbledore hadn't done anything too manipulative yet, I decided to leave it be. Besides, Holly was looking at me like she expected me to run away.

"Whats that look for?" I asked.

Holly flinched.

"W-well, I thought…"

She trailed off and looked away.

"What, you thought that because your home life is...unpleasant for want of a better word, I wouldn't be your friend any more?" I asked, "Do you really think so poorly of me?"

I put a hand on her chin and tilted her head up so I could meet her eyes.

"You're my friend Holly," I said, "I'd even go so far as to say your my best friend. It'll take more than a few scars to change that."

Holly looked up at me for a second, before she suddenly lunged forwards and hugged me. I hugged her back, rubbing her back as she started crying into my chest.

"Thank you Leo," she said, "You're my best friend too."

 **And thats the end of this chapter. I hope you liked what I did with Snape and Hagrid.**

 **In this story, Snape is a good person who made some really, really bad decisions. He probably would have still been an utter bastard to Holly, had she been in Gryffindor, but since she's quite, shy and in Ravenclaw, it would be pretty hard to compare her to James, even for Snape.**

 **I figure that Hagrid would know all about people making assumptions about people because of their parentage, being half Giant and all. He's still loyal to Dumbledore, probably more so than is healthy, but he won't make judgments of people before getting to know them.**

 **Holly is getting some claws and Ron sticks his foot in his mouth. She dosnt like dogs very much though...**

 **Will Pomfrey going to Dumbledore change anything? Well, you'll all just have to wait and see. Until next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we are back for more of this story! Nothing to say, enjoy!**

Chapter 5

A few days later, a message appeared on the notice board informing us that the First Years flying lessons were coming up. Apparently, all four Houses would be having them together since the year was so small. The notice triggered a heck of a lot of boasting from just about everyone about their feats on broomsticks, with Draco and Ron being the worst offenders until I called Draco out on his bullshit in front of the whole Great Hall.

Unfortunately, Hermione was being a bit of a pain by spewing hints and tips to anyone who would listen. It got so bad that I had to cut in.

"Hermione, enough," I said, cutting through her lecture, "Your not helping anyone with all this."

"What do you mean, Malfoy?" She asked, shooting a glare at me.

She still seemed to be fixated on the idea that I was Dark and hated muggleborns because of what she'd read, despite numerous pieces of evidence to the contry. I don't think it helped that I had quickly proven that I was just as smart as her in lessons and had actually managed to get an Outstanding Plus on a piece of Homework where she had got an O. The Extra marks had come from me making a point to discuss and analyze the question and what was written in the text books, rather than just answering it with information quoted from the text.

"Hermione, you can't learn to fly from a book," I said, "Just like you can't learn to ride a bike or play a sport. You need to actually do it. The tips can be helpful, but it's better to experience it yourself."

The bookworm glared at me, before flouncing away, her nose in the air.

"I don't know why you bother Leo," said Blaise, "She's a lost cause."

"Oh, I don't think so," I said, "She just needs to learn that books don't hold all the answers."

"If you say so," said Blaise, before going back to the Slytherin table as the post arrived.

I glanced up as Erebus, Mothers huge, black eagle owl, landed next to me with a bulging package of sweets. I removed the package and gave the owl a piece of bacon and removed the package. After opening it and giving the box of cauldron cakes it contained to Holly, who seemed to have developed a minor addiction to the chocolate treats, I glanced over at the Gryffindor table and saw Draco approaching. I sighed and stood.

"Excuse me for a moment," I said, before moving to intercept my moronic twin, grabbing his wrist before he could snatch Neville's Remembrall.

Draco snatched his hand from my grip and spun around, glaring at me, which I responded to with a blank look.

"What's going on?" Asked Mcgonagall.

"Nothing professor, just a minor scuffle between siblings," I said, not taking my eyes of my brother.

Draco scoffed and marched away with his bookends.

"Thanks Malfoy," said Neville.

I looked at the shy Gryffindor in surprise, having not expected a thank you.

"Your welcome Longbottom," I said, "But please, call me Leo."

Neville nodded.

"Then you can call me Neville."

I nodded, before an unwelcome voice reached my ears.

"What do you think your doing here Malfoy?" shouted Ron around a mouthful of bacon and eggs.

"Stopping my brother from making a fool of himself again," I replied with a grimace.

"Yeah right," scoffed Weasley, "Why don't you go back to your own table?"

"Gladly," I said, before turning back to Neville, "Talk to you later Neville."

The Longbottom Heir nodded and I returned to the Ravenclaw table to find Holly licking her fingers clean of the chocolate residue from her cauldron cakes.

* * *

At three-thirty that afternoon, we joined the other Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors as they hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for our first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, perfect for flying. The Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were already there, stood at the two lines of broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. I'd heard some of the upper years complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

We took our places as the teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk that I had to wonder if were from her Animagus form or something.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

I glanced down at my broom, noting the huge crack that ran up it, making a mental note not to fly to high, lest it broke while in the air.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'" Said Hooch

"UP!" everyone shouted.

My broom instantly jumped into my hand...and promptly snapped in half.

"Oh dear, not another one," sighed Hooch, "Still, at least it snapped now and not while you were in the air. Stand back for a moment Mr Malfoy, you can share with one of your classmates."

I did as I was told, leaning against the castle wall as the rest of the class tried to get their Brooms to respond. Hollys had already jumped into her hand, but was one of the few that did. Hermione's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. I sighed and pulled out Zodiac Spear, absently twirling the metal wand between my fingers.

" **FLIGHT MODE, ACTIVATE."**

I jumped as the Focus Gem suddenly activated, transforming to its active state. The gem at the head began to glow, before a pair white wings of energy appeared on my ankles and lifted me a few inches above the ground.

" **TALARIA."**

"Huh, OK, thats interesting," I said.

I touched down before anyone could notice my short flight and looked back towards the class who were too occupied by the lesson to notice either my flight or Zodiac Lance's transformation.

Madam Hooch was showing them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end while walking up and down, correcting their grips.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —"

Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle, twelve feet, twenty feet.

I narrowed my eyes, before looking at my staff.

"I don't suppose you have anything that could help?" I asked.

The gem glowed and the symbol of Aries the Ram appeared within the gem in red.

" **MODE, ARIES. WOOL CUSHION."**

What happened next was so unexpected it made me gape. A bolt of blue light shot from the top of the staff and shot towards Neville as he fell from his broom. As the orb hit the ground, it rapidly expanded out into a huge cloud of golden wool that broke the boys fall.

"Em, OK," I said, "That was unexpected. Thank you though."

" **POWERING DOWN."**

"Thank you for that Mr Malfoy," said Hooch as the wool slowly faded away, leaving a shaken looking Neville on the ground, "Now, I'd better get Mr Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. He looks like he needs a calming draught."

She helped Neville up and began to guide him towards the castle.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Madam Hooch guided Neville away. No sooner were they out of earshot than Hermione marched up to me and started spewing questions.

"Why did she thank you for that?" She demanded, "And what is that?"

She pointed at Zodiac Lance. I held up my hand before she could go any further.

"I can only answer one question at a time Granger," I said, "This is the Zodiac Lance, its my wand."

" **STANDBY MODE."**

The staff glowed and shrank back into wand form.

"See?"

"But why do you have something like that?" She asked.

"I have an unusually dense core," I replied, "As a result, I can't use a normal wand. Instead, Ollivander gave me something called a Focus Gem, which became Zodiac Lance and my wand. As for the spell, well, Focus Gems are unique in that they have spells built into them, like the one that saved Neville."

"But why would you help him?" She asked.

"Why not?" I asked, "Despite what you seem to think, I'm not a bad person."

Hermione didn't look convinced, but before she could comment Dracos laughter drew everyone's attention to us.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?"

The some other Slytherins joined in. Their seemed to be an interesting device in the House of the Snake between those who were real Slytherins, the Neutrils, and those who followed my brother, who seemed to mostly be the offspring of former Death Eaters.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson,. "Never thought you'd like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Thats enough Draco," I said, stepping forwards, "Give it to me."

Everyone stopped talking to watch. Draco scowled.

"No Leo, I think it would be better if I kept it," he said, "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find. How about… up a tree?"

"You're acting like a child," I said warningly, but was ignored as Draco leapt onto his broomstick and took off.

I sighed as he flew away until he was hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called.

"What a brat," I muttered, "Accio Remembrall."

Draco yelped as the glass orb shot from his hand and flew into mine.

"Here."

I handed the Remembrall to Hermione.

"Give this to Neville the next time you see him."

Hermione looked surprised as I walked over to join Holly where she was standing with the rest of the Ravenclaws.

* * *

The next few weeks until Halloween passed with little to nothing of interest happening. Well, that's not entirely true. After saving him from a broken wrist and Remembrall, Neville joined our little group of friends for our weekly sessions in the library. Every week, Daphne, Blaise, Tracey, Holly and I would all get together with a few others from Ravenclaw in the Library to do our homework and study. With the addition of Neville to our little troop, also Hermione seemed to be coming around to the idea that I wasn't the same as my Brother, although she still seemed weary about me. She also appeared to be doing a lot of reading into Focus Gems if the books I saw her with were any indication, but wasn't getting very far. Not that I was that surprised. Books on Focus gems were rare outside of the libraries of Wandmakers and those who possessed them. It seemed to be annoying her.

Anyway, time continued its relentless march and before long it was time for Halloween and we woke to the smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors which, while delicious for the first couple of hours, soon became rather sickly. However, Professor Flitwick soon took my mind of it when he announced in Charms that he thought we were ready to start making objects fly, something I'd been very interested in learning since my last attempt had caused the feather I was using to lodge itself in the ceiling of the Common Room. Flitwick had banned me from practicing them until I had better control of my magic and he taught them in lessons after that incident.

Getting back on track, Professor Flitwick divided us up into pairs to practice, putting Holly and I together, while Daphne and Tracey were another and Blaise was put with Draco, much to his displeasure. Ron was put with Hermione, as expected and I made a mental note to make sure she didn't end up in the Girls loo.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual, "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too. Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

It was rather difficult. I had much better control over my magic than the last time I tried this, but the tiny amount of magic the spell required meant that if I wasn't careful I could very well do some serious damage. Holly was having less trouble though and managed to make the feather lift up a few inches after a few tries, earning Ravenclaw ten points and a glare from Hermione, who was trying to tutor an ungrateful Ron.

* * *

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Dean Thomas after class let out, "she's a nightmare, honestly. Its no wonder she hasn't got any friends!"

Someone knocked into me as they hurried past and I was unsurprised it to see it was a crying Hermione. I was about to tell Holly to go after her and give Ron a piece of my mind, but before I could, she had already stormed up to Ron and given him a solid smack across the face.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?" Asked Ron.

Instead of answering, Holly was already running after Hermione. I was tempted to follow, but before I could, Neville grabbed my arm.

"Don't bother Leo, she'll be fine," she said, "Besides, she'll need someone to take notes for her in the next lesson."

I nodded and followed my housemate to our next class.

* * *

Holly and Hermione didn't show up for the next lesson, or for the rest of the afternoon and, by the time dinner rolled around I was getting worried.

"Oh don't worry Leo," said Padma Patil, "Parvati saw them in the girls bathroom on the second floor. Apparently they've spent the last few hours getting to know one another."

"Huh, sounds like we'll have a new friend by tomorrow," I mused, "Now why do I feel like I've forgotten something..?"

At that exact moment, the doors slammed open and Quirrell came sprinting into the room.

"TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS, TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS!"

He stopped halfway down the hall, panting for breath as everyone's heads swiveled to look at him.

"Thought you ought to know."

He fell forwards in a dead faint.

"Oh right, that," I said as everyone started screaming.

It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he said once he had our attention, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Everyone started doing as the Headmaster said. As we reached the second floor, I fell to the back of the Ravenclaws and slipped off in the direction of the girls bathroom, hoping to get their before the Troll. Unfortunately, it seems that I was to late as a truly foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean. I turned the corner, just in time to see the Troll stump past the end of the corridor and into the girls bathroom. It was a horrible sight which, like many other things I'd experienced, was on a completely different level to how it appeared in the film or books. Maybe it was because I could smell the damn thing as well?

Anyway, I ran down the hall and reached the bathroom, just in time to hear a terrified scream. I kicked the door down and ran inside, pulling out my wand as I went. Inside I found Hermione and Holly cowering against the wall opposite, looking scared out of their wits as the troll advanced on them, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went. Despite looking terrified, Holly had her wand out and looked ready to do her best to protect the herself and Hermione.

"Zodiac Lance!" I shouted.

" **ONLINE."**

The wand glowed and transformed into its active state. The Troll didn't seem to notice my presence as it raised its club to squash the two girls.

"Zodiac!" I shouted.

" **MODE CANCER, KARKINOS."**

The Trolls club slammed into the crab shaped shield that shimmered into existence around the two girls, causing the Troll to stagger back a few steps from the impact. The hulking brute grunted and raised its club to try again.

"OI!" I shouted, throwing a chunk of wood at the Troll, "Over here you big lug!"

The Troll turned to face me and let out a threatening growl, taking a few steps forwards, its club raised. I swallowed and took a ready stance with Zodiac Lance.

"I really hope you have something that could help," I muttered to my lance.

" **MODE, CAPRICORN."**

The gem gained the symbol of Capricorn and began to spark with lightning.

"Ooo, that'll work," I said with a grin, "Hey ugly, do you know what happens to a Troll when its struck by lightning?"

The Troll began to advance on me.

"The same thing that happens to everything else. Fire!"

" **FIRING GODS LANCE."**

The lightning gathered at the tip of the Lance before firing in a bolt that was nearly as big as the Trolls club. The bolt slammed into the Troll and exploded, showering the room with thin streamers of lightning as the Troll let out a bellow of pain that shook the walls and could probably be heard in the Ravenclaw common room on the other side of the castle. The roar was cut of a second later when the Gods Lance blasted a hole straight through the Trolls chest. The monster went limp and slowly toppled forwards as the spell dissipated, slumping to the floor with a crash, occasionally jerking from the lightning that was still flowing through its corpse.

I let out a sigh and relaxed, before walking over to where Holly and Hermione were staring at me in awe.

"Are you two alright?" I asked as the barrier around them faded.

"I-I think so," said Hermione.

I was about to turn to Holly, but before I could, she tackled me in a hug, knocking me on my ass.

"Ow."

"You stupid idiot!" Said Holly as she cried into my chest, "What were you thinking!?"

"Hey, don't worry about me," I said, rubbing her head, "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Idiot," she muttered.

"Um, if you don't mind, can I ask you something?" Asked Hermione, looking uncomfortable.

"Depends on the question," I said.

"I've never seen spells like that," she said, "How did you do it?"

"I didn't," I said, "It was all Zodiac Lance."

I indicated to the staff, before looking at Hermione.

"So, do you still think I'm evil Miss Granger?" I asked.

Hermione went red and started spluttering.

 **And thats the end of this chapter! I hope you liked it.**

 **The spells built into Zodiac Lance come in a variety of forms. Some I'm taking from other fandoms, others I'm making up myself. Wool Cushion is one of the spells used by Aries in Fairy Tail, while Gods Lance and Karkinos are mine, as is the flight spell, Talara, which translates to Winged Sandals.**

 **On a side note, Karkinos is the name of the Crap sent by Hera during Heracles' battle with the Hydra.**

 **I'm not entirely sure why I had Holly love Cauldron cakes so much, it just kinda happened. A silly little character trait that helps her seem more real maybe? Meh, who cares, its cute.**

 **Until next time, please leave me a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And here we are with Chapter 6. I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it! Before we begin, since I've had a couple of people ask me this, I'll clear it up here. The Dursleys never raped Holly. Their, I said it, now stop mentioning it. THe very idea makes me feel sick. Now thats out of the way, enjoy!**

Chapter 6

After our little adventure with the Troll, Hermione ended up joining our study sessions and, after a few tense conversations, managed to make friends with Daphne, who was helping her realize that books didn't hold all the answers by the simple method of pointing out how different books sometimes said different things about subjects. Between studying, lessons, homework and ignoring Weasley and my moronic twin's antics, the weeks slipped by quickly and before we knew it, the first Quidditch Match of the season rolled around between Gryffindor and Slytherin. While I didn't care overmuch for the sport, Holly and Hermione were both curious, Tracey was Quidditch mad and Neville wanted to cheer on Gryffindor, so I ended up in the stands in the freezing cold.

"I cannot believe I let myself get talked into this," I grumbled.

"I can," said Blaise, "You never can say no to Holly."

I scowled and flipped two fingers at him, which just made him grin. His grin only widened when Holly wrapped her arms around one of mine and snuggled up to me, causing me to blush and clear my throat.

"Um, what are you doing Holly?" I asked.

"Shh, I'm cold, you're warm," she said.

My friends all snickered at the expression on my face. Tracey waggled her eyebrows at me suggestively, before letting out a yelp as I shot a stinging hex at her.

Just then, the crowd erupted as the two teams entered the field from opposite ends, approaching the center where Madam Hooch waited with the crate of balls.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once the two teams met in the middle.

I snorted at the idea of the the Slytherins playing fair with their current lineup of muscle heads and apparently my friends were in agreement with me. Then, the game began. Now, I was never really a person who watched, or indeed, played much sport in my last life, but I'll admit, the Quidditch match was incredible to watch. The sheer speed and movement of the players was a joy to behold. Of course, that wasn't to say I wouldn't rather be elsewhere since, even with the little hot water bottle that was Holly, it was still really cold in the stands.

"Look out!"

I snapped out of my musings, just in time to see the Slytherin Seeker, Terrence Higgs, flying straight for Holly and I, a look of panic on his face. Without thinking I reacted, Zodiac Lance leaping into my hand and activating it.

" **MODE, ARIES, WOOL WALL."**

The air in front of us shimmered, before a wall of golden wool appeared, which McLaggen slammed into with a dull flump, followed by two more, louder flumps as the Bludgers collided with the magical wool.

"You OK Higgs?" I asked.

A hand slowly emerged from the top of the wool pile and gave me a thumbs up.

* * *

After the Quidditch match came to an end (Gryffindor won), we all met up at Hagrids hut for a cup of tea.

"It was Snape," said Neville once we were all settled, "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing Higgs broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off him."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid, "Why would Snape do some-

thin' like that?"

"Yeah, I don't think thats very likely either," said Tracey, "If it was Mclaggen, I might agree, but Snape wouldnt put one of his House in danger like that."

Neville and Hermione glanced at one another, before the shy boy hesetently spoke up.

"I found out something about him," he said, "I think he tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween and it bit him. Hermione and I think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid dropped the teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.

"Fluffy?"

"Yeah, he's mine. Bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub last year. I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the..."

"Yes?" said Hermione eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to steal it."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothing of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Holly and Leo?" cried Hermione, "I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"I'm telling you, you're wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don't know why Higg's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn't try an' kill a student!"

"Besides, I noticed that Quirrell was also acting rather strange," said Blaise, looking thoughtful, "I always thought that something was off about him. That sutter of his is fake."

Neville and Hermione didn't look convinced and I somehow doubted they were going to let this go.

"Now, listen to me, all of you," said Hagrid, "Your meddling in things that don't concern you. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, and you forget what it's guarding, that's between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel..."

"Aha!" said Neville, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself. I let out a sigh.

"Alright you two, I can already tell that you aren't going to let this go, no matter what we say. Just promise me you won't do anything to reckless?"

The two Gryffindors nodded, although I had no doubt they were going to cause me some headaches later in the year. A quick glanced down at Holly next to me had me stifling a groan at the curious look on the girls face. It seems that, even though she was in Ravenclaw, she still had a few Gryffindor traits.

* * *

Christmas was coming and one morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow, much to my displeasure. I hate the cold with a vengeance and was infinitely glad for the living hot water bottle that was Lucy at night. However, it was hard to stay grumpy when Holly was so happy. While I despised the cold and snow, she seemed to adore it and had a lot of fun playing outside in it with the rest of the First Years and even some of the upper years.

The lake froze solid, providing an excellent place to skate for some of the students, including Daphne and Tracey, who took it on themselves to teach Holly to skate as well and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban, despite their protests that it wasn't them. It wasn't, it was me.

The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again and I made a point to tell Mother not to send Erebus until the weather had cleared up. No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where our breath was visible and we kept as close as possible to our hot cauldrons. I couldnt complane to much about the cold though as Holly seemed to like using me as a hot water bottle.

* * *

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco loudly during one Herbology lesson, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

I cleared my throat.

"Draco, you do remember that I'm staying, correct?" I asked blandly, causing him to go the colour of cold porridge.

If mother ever heard him say something like that about me, not even Father would be able to save him from her fury. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled thickly, but shut up a second later when Draco glared at them.

I was remaining at school for a couple of reasons, most notably to avoid the inevitable Christmas ball Father insisted on throwing every year that never failed to bore me to tears, but also so I could keep Holly company and, more importantly, out of trouble. In the months between the start of the year and Christmas, Holly had really come out of her shell thanks to the efforts of all our friends and, while still a little shy, she was proving to be quite the firebrand. A few times Weasley had attempted to corner her, apparently having not figured out that she wanted nothing to do with him, only to end up flat on his back with a black eye. She'd also given my twin what for a few times when she caught him picking on Muggleborns and proved that, despite her small size, she was more than capable of holding her own.

Unfortunately, the Weasleys were staying as well. Well, actually thats not fair since only Ron was a pain. Sure Percy was a bit of a stickler for the rules, but he was like that for everyone, but the Twins proved to be good people, although I don't entirely trust them not to spike my drink with something. I just hope that, since Holly is a girl, Ginny won't be a crazy obsessed stalker.

* * *

Moving on, after Herbology, we had a free period while the Slytherins headed of to potions, so Holly and I headed to the library to work on our homework. We were just finishing up the last of our homework when we were joined by Hermione. While we were working, I noticed that some of Holly and Hermione's books were not on the subjects we were working on, but instead on famous people and events of the recent years.

"Are you guys still looking for Flamal?" I asked.

"Yes, so what?" Asked Hermione.

I sighed and shut my book.

"Well, you won't find anything on him in those," I said, "Try a little further back in time."

Holly gave me a sharp look.

"You know who he is?" She asked.

I just smiled.

"You do! Why didn't you say something?"

"Because watching you lot struggle over it is too much fun," I said, "Besides, you two look cute when you're frustrated."

Holly and Hermione both blushed brightly.

"I-idiot, don't say things like that!" said Hermione, looking away.

Holly shook off her embarrassment.

"If you know who Flamal is, can you tell us?" She asked.

"Hmm, nope," I said with a grin, "This is your project so you can finish it. OW!"

Holly had just grabbed my cheek and started tugging on it.

"Come on, tell us idiot!" She said.

"OWOWOWOWOW, Leggo!" I yelped.

"Tell me tell me tell me!"

"What is going on here?"

Holly and I froze as Madam Pince's voice cut across us. We both hesitantly looked around and saw the librarian looming over us with fire in her eyes.

"Ah, well, you see," I stuttered.

"OUT!"

"I cannot believe that you got us thrown out," grumbled Hermione as she stormed down the hall.

"We're sorry," we said.

"Urg, you two are idiots," grumbled Hermione, "But Leo, you never answered our question."

"Fine," I mumbled, "Flamal is an Alchemist famed for the creation of the Philosophers Stone. Actually, I'm surprised you didn't know that Hermione, I mean, Flamals famous in the Muggle world to."

"Huh, I always through the Stone was made by Hohenheim," said Hermione.

"Huh?" I asked, "Wait, you mean like in Fullmetal Alchemist?"

That brought Hermione up short and she turned to me with wide eyes. I took a step back in surprise as she suddenly zipped forwards and grabbed my hands.

"You like Anime too?!" She said.

"Errr, yes?"

Speaking of Anime, if this was one, I probably would have been sweat dropping at this point. Before Hermione could say anything else, she was suddenly yanked away and Holly grabbed my arm, glaring at the other girl. Hermione seemed to catch herself and turned away.

"W-well thats alright I guess," she said.

Em, is she..?

"A-anyway, its nearly time for dinner, we should go."

She walked away. Holly and I glanced at one another.

"Whats with here?" Asked Holly.

"Not a clue," I said, "Shes right though, it is nearly dinner time. Lets go."

 **...I'm sorry it seems that my love of Anime took over at the end their. I suspect that it doesn't help that I was watching Lucky Star while writing this, but no matter. Apparently this Hermione is Tsundere…**

 **Anyway, moving on. Before I wrap this up, I would like to address a guest review I received:**

* * *

 **I like your story it's fairly well written and the plot line is nice but this zodiac lance thing I find kinda irritating to read about a mix between the way it seems to be an outside power and not the characters own and the way it's written into the script "zodiac lance: Aries -" it sounds to cartoonish and childish**

* * *

 **First of all, I'd like to applaud that you actually gave constructive criticism rather than the, unfortunately, more common flame. You addressed what you didn't like, without insulting me or the story. Good on you.**

 **Now, to address the issues. First up, the Lance is a weapon, so its built in attacks aren't that different from a gun firing bullets. It also relies on Leo's own magic to function, so even when he uses the built in spells, the power still comes from him.**

 **As for the second point, well, that was intentional. As you can probably tell from the last bit, I love Anime, so I decided to tap into some anime tropes for the Focus Gems.**

 **And with that, its time for me to sign off. Please leave me a**


	7. Chapter 7

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we're back. Nothing to say, everything to write, lets get started.**

Chapter 7

Once the holidays started, Holly and I spent most of our time in the Ravenclaw Common room. Since we were practically the only people in the house that had remained at School, we had the place to ourself, so we spent the time sat by the fire, toasting a variety of things over the fire and talking about random stuff. I also taught Holly to play chess, real chess that is, not Wizards Chess. As cool as the idea of living chess pieces is, it always makes me feel guilty sacrificing them to win.

On Christmas eve we went to bed early, ready for a day of food, fun and of course, presents, something I still looked forwards to even if I was technically 30. The next morning, I was woken by something small slamming into my stomach and a rough tongue covering my face in slobber.

"GAH, what the hell?" I spluttered, shooting upright.

"Get up Leo, its Christmas!" Yelled Holly happily as Lucy tried to nose me out of bed.

I groaned and slumped back against my pillows. Holly didn't seem to like that though.

"Get up!"

THUD!

"Damn brat," I mumbled from my position face down on the floor.

"Come on Leo, hustle it!" Said Holly.

I groaned, but pushed myself to my feet and followed Holly downstairs where two small piles of presents rested beneath the tree. Holly charged forwards and practically dived at her presents with all the eagerness of a kid with her first real christmas. I on the other hand needed a cup of Elf provided tea before I could wake up enough to actually start opening my gifts.

I'd received a variety of different gifts. From my Father I'd received a book on blood purity that immediately went in the fire, while I had received nothing from my brother, as usual. From Astoria and Daphne, I'd received a book of storys about Focus Gems, Blase had sent me a book of esoteric spells from Italy that weren't used in England, Neville had sent me a book on plants and Hermione…

"What the hell?"

A homemade christmas cake. Now, that wasn't really that weird, what was weird was the not that came with it.

Dear Leo,

I accidentally made too much cake this year, so you can have this one. Hope you like it.

Hermione

I could practically hear the echoing 'B-but this doesn't mean I like you, Baka!'. And how in the world does one make too much cake anyway?

"Whats this?" Asked Holly, drawing my attention over to her.

She had just opened her last present and revealed the silvery grey form of the Invisibility Cloak. Now, this statement is quickly becoming redundant, but it still bears mentioning that seeing the real thing is completely different than seeing it on screen. I had absolutely no problem whatsoever in believing that it was created by Death himself. Unlike how it was depicted in the film or book, the cloak was black, so black that it seemed to draw in the light from around it and the aura of power that surrounded it made me wonder why in the world Dumbledore would ever part with it, manipulative old bastard or not.

"What is this?" Asked Holly, turning the cloak in her fingers curiously, "I've never seen material like this before."

I frowned. There was something off about how she said that, almost like she wasn't seeing the same thing as me.

"I think its an Invisibility cloak," I said, "But I've never seen one in black before."

"Really?" Asked Holly, "It looks silver to me. Wait, did you say invisible? Cool!"

She stood and threw the cloak on, causing her body to vanish.

"This is cool," said Holly, examining herself in the mirror, "I wonder who sent it?"

"Well, judging from this, I'd say Dumbledore," I said, waving the note that had fallen out, "I've seen letters he sent my Father in his study and this is his handwriting."

"This was my dads?" Asked Holly after reading the note.

She looked surprised and a little sad.

"Apparently," I said, "Oh, that reminds me."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a wrapped box.

"Merry Christmas Holly."

Holly blinked and took the gift, unwrapping it to reveal a box.

"Whats this?" She asked, opening the box to reveal a silver locket with an emerald set into it, "Oh my!"

"I saw it in an Owl Order catalogue Tracey had and thought it would look on you," I said with a smile.

"I-its beautiful," she whispered, "B-but you didn't have to."

"But I wanted to," I said, "Here."

I took the locket and looped it around Hollys neck, before turning around so she could see what it looked like in the mirror.

"See, it suits you."

Holly blushed, before turning and hugging me.

"Thank you Leo," she said, before kissing me on the cheek.

I blinked at the unexpected kiss and blushed, but that was nothing on Holly. She blushed bright red and started stuttering as she shot away from me.

"A-ah, I-I-I'm s-sorry!" She gasped, "I-I didn't mean to..!"

She ran out of the room before I could stop her.

"What was that all about?" I asked myself.

* * *

I didn't see Holly again all day, not even at dinner and, by the time I was back in the Tower after dinner, I was actually getting a bit worried about her. However, that worry was quickly revealed to be unnecessary when Holly came bursting into the Common Room looking flushed and excited.

"Oh hey Holly, where've you been?" I asked.

"I-I went exploring," she said, blushing slightly, "And I found something! Come on, come see!"

She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to my feet and out the door. Unsurprisingly, we ended up in an abandoned classroom that held nothing but dusty desks and a large, freestanding mirror.

"Hmm, Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi?" I mused, "Mirror writing. It says 'I show not your face but your hearts desire."

I glanced at Holly.

"So, what do you see?"

She went bright red.

"Um, I see my parents and…" she trailed off looking embarrassed.

Hmm, interesting. Curious, I stepped in front of the mirror and took a look. It took me a moment to recognize what I was seeing. It looked like a family photograph, with on older looking Holly and I taking center stage. I was standing with my arm around Holly and Zodiac Lance over my shoulder, a wide smile on my face and wearing a smart looking black suit with a red tie, while Holly was wearing a black dress and had her hands clasped in front of her, a bi smile on her face and the locket I'd bought for her at her throat. Stood behind me was my mother and a tall, lean looking man with teak coloured skin, black hair and honey gold eyes I didn't recognize, while a healthy looking Sirius and Remus stood behind Holly with a woman with fiery red hair and warm, amber eyes, wearing a brown dress and a black staff in her hands. Our friends were arrayed around us and a full grown Lucy was lying behind the group.

"Huh, thats interesting," I said.

"What do you see?" Asked Holly.

"A possible future," I answered, "One that I hope to be able to create."

Holly stepped up next to me and leant her head against my shoulder.

"Me to," she said.

We stood there in silence for a moment, before I spoke up again.

"Holly, as amazing as this mirror is, I don't think its a good idea to dwell on it," I said.

"Hmm?"

"I think the saying is that it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

"I know."

I blinked and looked down at the girl.

"I know why you're worried Leo, but you don't need to worried," said Holly, looking up at me, "I know that what the mirror shows isn't real, but that doesn't mean I can't make it real. I won't dwell on my dreams when I can work to make it a reality."

I looked at her in surprise for a moment, before smiling and hugging her to my side.

"You're wiser than most," I said.

"So are you."

* * *

After that, the rest of our holiday was fairly quiet, although I couldn't help but notice that we had an unnerving tendency to somehow end up near the Mirror room whenever we went to the library. We usually left quickly though.

The rest of the school returned to school on the day before the start of term and Hermione immediately dragged us to the Library and confronted us with a truly massive book.

"Whats this for?" I asked, eyeing the monster of a book.

"I double checked what you told us about Nicholas Flamal before the end of term," she said, "You were right, he is the one responsible for the creation of the Philosophers Stone."

I nodded.

"Double checking your information, very good," I said, "So, find anything else out?"

"Not really," said Hermione, "It was pretty much as you said. But at least now we know what Fluffy's guarding and what Snapes after."

Holly and I looked at each other.

"OK, I have to ask, why do you and Neville suspect Snape?" I asked, "And how exactly did you two find out about that mutt? No offence, but you two don't seem like the type to go into a place described as a place that could deal a 'most painful death'."

"None taken," said Hermione, "And we suspect Snape because Neville saw him with a bite wound shortly after Halloween and he tried to kill you and Holly at the Quidditch match."

"I somehow doubt that was Snape, but I see I won't convince you," I said with a sigh, "What about Fluffy?"

Hermione blushed.

"Well, after the thing with Neville's Remembrall, Malfoy, that is your brother, came over and started making a scene. Ronald lost his temper and ended up being challenged to a duel. I tried to convince him not to go, but ended up getting locked out of the tower and Neville had forgotten the password and we decided to go with Ronald instead of being left on our own."

"Wait, let me guess the rest," I said, interrupting her, "Draco didn't show and sent Filch or Snape instead and you ended up running to the Third Floor by accident?"

"Exactly."

"Urg, that stupid brat," I groaned, "He's really lucky that the duel wasn't official."

"Why?" Asked Holly, looking interested to learn something new.

"Well, if it was and he didn't show, that's an automatic loss and a huge stain on his honour," I said, "Not to mention the fact that there's a chance that Magic itself might demand him pay a price for his cowardice, up to and including the Malfoy Lordship and vaults. I thought he was smarter than that."

"That sounds a little harsh," said Hermione.

"Magic usually is," I said, "The thing is, Magic is all about balance. Its why Prophets and seers exist to help maintain the balance. It also appears in a lot of Rituals and Alchemy. Equivalent Exchange and all that. Magic can be ruthless in maintaining the balance."

"It almost sounds like Magic is alive," said Holly.

"I don't know if I'd go that far, but it does seem like it sometimes," I replied with a chuckle, "Sometimes it seems that it has a sense of humor when it comes up with punishments and rewards. Hell, more often than not, when one magical saves another they end in an Anime style love triangle."

Holly and Hermione glanced at one another.

* * *

The next day classes restarted and were much the same as usual. We told Neville about Flamal and the Stone to stop him from worrying to much and frantically researching Flamal. The next big event was the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match, which I was once again dragged to by my friends, despite my protests. Neville and Hermione seemed a little worried about a repeat of the last match since Snape was refereeing, but I wasn't worried. I'd been practicing with Zodiac Lance and I'd managed to learn how to cast a couple of the built in spells without deploying the full staff and even a couple of the Warmage spells I'd found in the journal. Warmage was the proper term for those with Dense Magic and it really fit since most of the spells were good for mass destruction and little else.

I think the two Gryffindors had something planned if their whispering was anything to go by, but I highly doubted it would be used. I noticed my brother making his way over towards us, but seemed to think better of it when he saw me, instead going to bother Weasley. He seemed to be learning. Wonder how long that'll last…

I had to admit, the game wasn't as riveting as the last one, but it was interesting to see all the ways Professor Snape could hand out penalties for silly things. Apparently I wasn't completely accurate in my assessment of the Professor. He still had a grudge against Gryffindor, although the fact Bludgers seemed to keep going his way didn't really help. Eventually the game ended with Hufflepuff victory because their Seeker, Cedric Diggory, was a lot better at his job than McLaggen and Weasley and my brother landed themselves in detention for fighting.

* * *

Following the match, the school seemed to switch to Exam mode, with teachers piling on homework and Hermione drawing up study timetables that would have even the most studious of Ravenclaws telling her to calm down a bit. However, as I'd never really been very good at reviewing or studying for exams in my last life, I decided to go along with it. Hey, it couldn't hurt and I wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing. Holly seemed to be just as eager as us and we all dove headfirst into the material in a manner that seemed to scare our other friends. That said, I also made sure to drag us back out every now and then to prevent all the studying from burning us out. I was expecting Hermione to be difficult to distract when it came time for a brake, but bringing up Anime always seemed to work.

Strangely enough, there seemed to be a few slight differences between the Anime I knew from my last life and the ones in this world. For starters, Sailor Moon was called Sailor Artemis. It was functionally the same, but the names of the characters and some of the plotlines were slightly different. There were a few others like that and I couldn't help but notice that all the ones affected were those set on Earth.

* * *

"I'll never remember this," groaned Tracey during a study session one afternoon, throwing down her quill and looking longingly out of the library window.

It was the first nice day of the year and I couldn't help but agree with her desire to be outside, but I also knew that their was no way Hermione would let us go outside until we'd studied at least a little.

I glanced up and spotted a familiar hulking form skulking in the stacks. Or trying to at least.

"Hey Hagrid, what are you up to?" I called.

The Half Giant flinched, before shuffling into view, hiding something behind his back and looking very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

"Just lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got all of my friends interest at once. "And what are you lot up to? You're not still looking fer Nicolas Flamel, are you?"

"Nope, I already knew who he is," I said

"And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St..." said Hermione

We'd informed the rest of our friends about what was in the school after making sure they knew not to tell anyone, not that they would. They were true Slytherins and knew the value of secrets.

"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening, "Don' go shouting about it, what's the matter with you?"

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Holly, who, while not believing that Snape was behind it, was worried about the Stone "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy..."

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen, come and see me later, I'm not promising I'll tell yeh anything, mind, but don't go rabbiting about it in here, students aren't supposed to know. They'll think I've told you!"

"See you later, then," said Holly.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully, "Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I highly doubt it," I said, "And it was a book on dragons."

Everyone looked at me.

"How do you know that?" Asked Holly.

I just pointed at the bookshelf behind where Hagrid had been standing where a mirror was attached at the perfect angle to show me what he had been hiding.

"Oh."

"Why would Hagrid be looking up Dragons?" Asked Daphne.

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Holly, looking thoughtful.

"But it's against our laws," said Blaise. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden and you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous.."

"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Holly.

"Of course there are," said Blaise. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks."

"Yeah, keeping Muggles from noticing is a really headache for the Ministry," said Tracey.

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.

"I have a nasty feeling I know," I muttered, "I really hope I'm wrong though."

I wasn't, of course.

 **And thats the end of this chapter! I wonder if my fans can guess the reasons for the differences in Anime names or even who the extra people in the Mirror were and why they were there? If you know my Outsider Chronicles, you probably can.**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked the fluff scenes with Holly and Leo. Until next time, please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we have more of this fun story. Enjoy!**

Chapter 8

An hour later, Neville, Hermione, Holly and I were heading down to Hagrids Hut, the others having begged off for various reasons, although they did extract promises to be told everything later. When we arrived it was to find the curtains closed and Hagrid made doubly sure it was us before letting us in. It was stifling hot inside, with a blazing fire in the grate and the curtains shut, which kept the heat inside. Hagrid made tea, which I have to admit, compared with the rest of his cooking, was pretty damn good, and offered us stoat sandwiches, which we refused.

"So, you wanted to ask me something?" He asked eventually after stalling for a while.

"Yes," said Holly, "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at her.

"Of course I can't," he said, "Number one, I don't know myself, number two, you know too much already, so I wouldn't tell you if I could. That Stone's here for a good reason. It was almost stolen from Gringotts. I suppose you've worked that out haven't you? Beats me how you even know about Fluffy."

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice.

Hagrid's beard twitched and I could tell he was smiling. Ah flattery, the greatest weapon in an interrogators arsenal.

"We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," continued Hermione, "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words and I mentally adjusted my assessment of the large man. Apparently he was still rather dim if that worked on him.

"Well, I don't suppose it could hurt to tell you that," he said, "let's see, he borrowed Fluffy from me, then some of the teachers did enchantments. Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Quirrell and Dumbledore himself did something, of course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?"

"Oh for gods sake, you're still on that?" I groaned, "Look, as horrible as Snape is to you Gryffs, he's not the type to steal something like the Stone. He's too proud for something like that."

They didn't seem convinced, but didn't argue.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Neville anxiously, "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me and Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Play some music and he'll go to sleep," I said.

Everyone stared at me and Hagrid looked like I'd just kicked his dragon egg into the lake.

"How do you know that?" He asked, looking suspicious.

"The legend of Orpheus in Greek Mythology," I said, "According to legend, the poet Orpheus was able to put Cerberus to sleep and enter the Underworld by playing his lyre. Admittedly, he was supposed to be supernaturally good, but it wouldn't be that far out of the realm of imagination to assume that the same would work on Fluffy and apparently I'm right."

Hagrid looked crestfallen. I sighed and moved to comfort the gentle giant.

"Look Hagrid, I may know it, but from what I can tell, the Legend of Orpheus isn't well known in the Wizarding World, so I wouldn't worry about it," I said, "And don't worry, we won't tell anyone."

Hagrid looked a bit better at that.

"Thanks Leo, you're a good kid, no matter what anyone says," he said.

"Hey Hagrid, can we open a window?" Asked Neville, "Its boiling in here!"

"Sorry Neville, can't," said Hagrid.

"Would that have anything to do with the Dragon egg in the fire?" I asked.

"WHAT?"

Everyone turned to look at the fire where, as stated, a huge, black egg rested in the heart of the flames.

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Neville, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg, "It must've cost you a fortune."

"Won it," said Hagrid, "Last night. I was down in the village having a few drinks and got into a game of cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad to get rid of it, to be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" Said Hermione.

"Well, I've been doing some reading," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library, Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit, it's a bit outta date, of course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on them, and when it hatches, feed it on a bucket of brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. And see here, it says how to recognize different eggs. What I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.

"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.

* * *

And with that, we had yet another worry. Well, the others did. While I liked Hagrid just fine and would probably help them when they came up with a plan, I was more interested in practicing with my Zodiac Lance with the help of Room of Requirement. I'd discovered that the Lance could generate a blade of energy from the gem in the moon for close combat and, with the help of some books and enchanted dummys, I was learning how to fight with it. Because of the design, I was learning a Naginata style, but thats not really important. I was also practicing with the Warmage spells and the built in techniques of Zodiac Lance so I wouldn't have to rely on the staff quite so much in a pinch. With all my training, homework and studying, time flew by incredibly quickly and before I knew it, Holly was receiving a the note from Hagrid that the egg was hatching.

Interestingly, rather than it being during the day, the letter came as we were making our way back to the castle from our Herbology lesson at the end of the day. We ran into Hermione and Neville in the Great Hall and Holly quickly filled them in on the new development.

For some reason Hermione and Neville though it would be a good idea to discuss the Dragon out in the open where anyone, including Draco, could hear them. Bloody Gryffs. I bopped the two on the heads to get them to shut up.

"Ow, what was that for?" Asked Hermione.

"Because, Hermione, you're discussing sensitive information in the middle of the Entrance Hall where anyone can hear you."

I indicated to all the people wondering around. The two Gryffs blushed and shut up.

* * *

After dinner, the four of us met up in front of the Great Hall and, after checking to make sure nobody was watching, ducked under the Cloak. Almost as soon as I was under it, I was hit by a strange feeling of familiarity, similar to being with a close loved one you haven't been with since you were very young and only remember them very vaguely.

Weird feelings brought on by magic cloaks aside, we hustled down to the into the grounds and across the lawns to Hagrids Hut.

Hagrid greeted us when we knocked on the door, looking flushed and excited.

"It's nearly out," He said as he ushered us inside.

The egg was lying on the table, deep cracks crisscrossing all over it and spreading as something shifted inside. We all drew our chairs as close as we could, watching with bated breath...

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open, allowing the baby dragon to flop onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty, but then again, I hadn't expected it to be. That said, their was a certain sense of magnificence to the little creature, the kind that was only found in true Apex predators. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes. It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured as he reached out a hand shaking hand to stroke the dragon's head.

It snapped at Hagrids fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" said Hagrid.

"She," I said, "It doesn't have a crest, so its a female."

"Really?" Asked Hagrid.

"Yep."

"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face. He leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?" Asked Neville

"Someone was looking through the gap in the curtains," he said, "It's a student, he's running back up to the school!"

I sighed as everyone else bolted to the door and looked out. Yeah, this is going to end badly.

* * *

"Nothing, I repeat, nothing, gives a student the right to walk about the school at night," said Mcgonagall as she glared across the desk at us.

Despite the fact she was wearing a hairnet and a tartan dressing gown, it did nothing to lessen the intensity of the glare. After leaving Hagrids Hut, we returned to the castle, only to find Mcgonagall and a smug looking Draco waiting for us. The egg had taken longer to hatch than we thought and it was well past Curfew, which is why we were in so much trouble.

"Now, to ensure that you are aware of the seriousness of your actions, 50 points will be taken from each of you and all five of you will receive detention."

I just sighed and turned out the complaints from my companions. I knew it was a bad idea to come, but then Holly would have come out anyway and I probably would have been in trouble for not stopping her. Aw well, hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

* * *

Needless to say, after that particular incident no one was very pleased with us, but since it didn't take long for me and Holly to regain the points lost thanks to our combined skills, the Ravenclaws largely left us alone. It didn't hurt that most Ravenclaws didn't really care about points anyway, preferring to allow their own academic prowers to speak for themselves.

Neville and Hermione on the other hand weren't so lucky. Out of all the Houses, Gryffindor was the one who took the House point system the most seriously. Not that the other houses didn't care, but the Puffs tended to shrug off point losses and move on, while the Snakes just went to a potions lesson. The Gryffs seemed to take each point loss as a personal insult, especially large ones. Needless to say, Hermione and Neville were eating at the Ravenclaw table quite often to avoid their classmates.

* * *

A few weeks before the start of the exams Holly told us that she'd overheard Quirriel talking to someone in an empty classroom, begging about not wanting to do something. Naturally, Hermione and Neville jumped to the conclusion that it meant that Snape now knew how to get past Quirrils trap and I knew that Voldie was demanding more Unicorn blood. Hermione suggested going to Dumbledore, but I quickly shot that idea down.

"Hermione, we have no proof," I said when she asked me why, "Hell, we don't even agree on who it is we suspect!"

She grumbled, but accepted my argument.

* * *

The following morning, notes were delivered to us at breakfast informing us that our detention would be tonight. At eleven o'clock, we headed downstairs with Lucy at my side, ready for a night in the forest. Well, I was. I couldn't exactly tell the others that without them asking questions I wasn't sure I wanted to answer. We were met in the entrance hall by Hermione, Neville and Draco, as well as a lamp Filch who had a rather unsettling smile on his face, although it slipped slightly at the sight of Lucy.

"Whats that thing doing here?" He demanded, glaring at the Lioness hatefully.

It hadn't taken long for Lucy to take the title of Alpha kitty from Mrs Norris and now the mangy cat was sporting some rather nasty scars from her claws. Needless to say, Flich wasn't Lucy's biggest fan.

"She insisted on coming," I said, "And you of all people should know that you don't deny a cat what they want. Or a lady for that matter."

The caretaker grumbled, but didn't argue

"Follow me," he said grumpily, lighting his lamp and leading us outside.

"This is going to be fun," I muttered, shivering at the cold air.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes, hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me. It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out, hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed. Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

"Where would we run to?" Asked Holly

We crossed the grounds, shivering in the cold air. The moon was bright, but it wasn't exactly a clear night and clouds kept passing in front of the silver orb, throwing us into darkness. Despite the darkness, it didn't take long to reach Hagrids Hut.

"A sorry lot we got here Hagrid," said Filch as we arrived at the fire that had been built outside the big mans hut.

Hagrid just sniffed. His face, or what was visible at least, was red from crying.

"Oh god man, you're not still whining about that bloody Dragon are you?" Asked Filch.

"Norbertas gone," said Hagrid, "Dumbledore sent him to Romania, to live in a colony."

"But that's good isn't it?" Asked Hermione, "She'll be with her own kind."

"But what if she dosen't like Romania?" Asked Hagrid, "What if the other Dragons are mean to her? Shes only a baby after all."

"Hagrid, I hate to interrupt you, but can we get this over with?" I asked, "I kinda want to get this over with."

Hagrid sniffed and scrubbed his face clean.

"Yeah, your right Leo," he said, "Now listen up kids, the job tonight is going to be in the Forest…"

Befire he could continue, a now pale Draco interrupted him.

"The forest?" he repeated, sounding terrified, "We can't go in there at night! There's all sorts of things in their. Werewolves, I heard."

I sighed.

"Draco, its not the Full Moon and even if it was, their aren't any werewolves around here," I said.

My brother shot a glare at me.

"Leos right, theres nothing in those trees that'll attack you while you with me or Fang," said Hagrid.

"I'll be back at dawn for what's left of them," said Filch nastily, before he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.

"I'm not going in that forest," he said, a note of panic in his voice.

"You are if you want to stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely, "You've done wrong and now you've got to pay for it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do," protested Draco, "I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd..."

"Do nothing most likely," I said, "This is the sort of thing students do in detention, something useful. Sill, this seems like the sort of thing for Seventh Years, not first years."

I looked at Hagrid, who shrugged.

"I don't know what to tell you Leo," he said, "I was told that I'd be having some kids in detention for help and I got you. "Right then, listen carefully, because it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, and I don't risks. Follow me over here a moment."

I looked up at the looming trees as we approached the Forests edge. The next challenge lay within those trees. I was ready.

 **And thats the end of this chapter. As you can probably tell, I've used a combination of movie and books for this chapter. Next time we get to see if Leos confidence was warranted as he goes up against Voldemort for the first time. Until then, please leave a review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we are back for more of this awesome story! This chapter will be the first real fight Leo actually has and we can see whether his confidence in his abilities is warranted or if its arrogance. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9

I looked around at the dark trees as Hagrid lead us into the Forest. I'd never really been very comfortable in forests, especially at night and this one was no exception. In fact, it might actually be worse and the low lying fog really want helping the creepy atmosphere.

"Look there," said Hagrid, drawing us to a stop, "See that stuff shining on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn somewhere in here thats been hurt badly by something. This is the second time in a week and I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try and find the poor thing and, if necessary, put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" Asked Draco, looking around worriedly.

"Well, we have Fang and Lucy," I said, pointing at the Lioness.

"Like I said earlier, there's nothing that lives in the forest that'll hurt you if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid resolutely, "And keep to the path. Right, now, we're gonna split into two parties and follow the trail in different directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've been staggering around since last night at least."

"Hagrid, do you mind if Holly, Lucy and I take Fang?" I asked.

"Thats fine," said the big man, "But I warn you, Fangs a coward."

"Yeah, thats why we got Lucy," I said, "Anything that does want to attack us will think twice with her around."

"Good point. Alright, Leo, Holly and Lucy will go with Fang and Neville, Hermione and Draco will come with me. Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get your wands out and practice now."

We did as we were told.

"Thats it. If anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, and we'll all come and find you. Be careful."

We all nodded, before splitting up.

* * *

We walked in silence for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Holly seemed scared and was sticking close to my side, while Lucy was perfectly happy bounding around, occasionally stopping to sniff at something. Fang was sticking close to me and jumping whenever something shifted in the shadows.

"Nice to see someones enjoying themselves," I muttered.

"Yeah," murmured Holly, her eyes scanning the shadows that lined the path, "Hey, is it just me or is the blood getting thicker?"

I looked at our trail and nodded.

"Yeah, I think you're right," I said, "Keep your eyes open."

A short while later, we came upon a clearing and stopped at the edge

"Look..." murmured Holly, pointing at the center of the clearing.

It was kind of an unnecessary gesture since the Unicorn shone brightly against the dark loom that covered the forest floor. I had never seen something that looked so beautiful and sad. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles and its sides were heaving as it tried desperately to cling to life, its eyes rolling in fear. Holly rushed to the magical Equines side, completely abandoning all pretence of stealth, and started examining the wound with the air of one who had a lot of experience treating injuries. I decided I didn't want to know where that experience had come from lest I get in trouble for cursing Muggles.

I followed Holly into the clearing, drawing Zodiac Lance and activating it, ready for the inevitable. Not ready enough apparently as I very nearly took a curse to the back and it was only the sound of a stick snapping that saved me from a very likely nasty death.

I spun around, reacting without thinking as a gold and black circle appeared at the tip of the Lance, absorbing the spell. However, I immediately knew how outclassed I was as the impact sent me sliding back and shattered the spell. I absently noticed that Fang had bolted as soon as Quirrelmort appeared from the shadow, the useless mutt.

"Karkinos!" I shouted, summoning the crab shaped shield into existence, just in time to block Quirrelmorts follow up spell.

I gritted my teeth at the abrupt drain on my Mana reserves and dug my feet into the ground to prevent the impact from pushing me back. I quickly altered the properties of the shield from absorption of impacts to deflection, a handy technique I'd learnt in my training. Unfortunately, all this served to do is delay the inevitable as Quirrelmort began to rain spells down on my shield at incredible speed. I glanced back and saw Holly twitching on the ground as she clawed at her scar. Damn, that wasn't good. With Holly out of it like that she couldn't run and if I broke the shield to counter attack she could get hit.

Fortunately, that problem was sorted a moment later as Lucy erupted from the foliage and pointed at Quirrelmort with an angry roar, swiping at him with her sword sized claws. The Dark Wizard reacted remarkably quickly, leaping out of the way of the swipe and backing up quickly to stay out of range of the Lions attacks. I quickly disengaged my shield.

"Zodiac Lance!"

" **MODE, LEO. REGULUS."**

A brilliant golden light began to form in the head of my staff. I narrowed my eyes, channeling as much Mana as I could into the spell.

"Regulus Impact!"

The light swirled for a moment, before shooting forwards, taking the form of a snarling lion and pushing me back a few steps from the force of the attack. Lucy leaped out of the way, just as the spell hit Quirrelmort and exploded, vaporizing the trees closest to the center of the impact and shattering those a little further away. It was very unlikely that anything at the center of the explosion would have survived. I let out a sigh and relaxed..

"Impressive."

I stiffened at the hissing voice in my ear and moved to spin around and attack. However, before I could, my body was hit by what had to be the worst pain I had ever felt. It's not something that can be described in words, but I can safely say I'd take being smushed against a concrete barrier over being exposed to the Cruciatus Curse any day of the week.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain faded and my sight returned. It took a moment to regain my bearings and realize I was flat on my back across the clearing from where I'd been before. I rolled over and vomited, absently noting that their was a lot of red in the puddle. I swallowed and moved to stand, but before I could, a hand grabbed my collar and pulled me up, slamming me against the side of a tree. I forced my eyes open and found myself looking into a pair of glowing red eyes that shone from the depths of the hood. Lucy let out a snarl and pounced at Quirrelmort, only to take a bloody red spell to the chest and go flying off into the darkness of the forest. I wasn't worried though, it took a lot to hurt a Nemean Lion, even with Dark Magic.

"Yes, very impressive," said Quirrelmort, "You are powerful, boy, very powerful indeed. I think you will go far in life."

He glanced over at where Zodiac Lance lay near the Unicorn.

"And a Warmage as well. Cureous."

He looked back at me.

"Whats your name boy?"

I felt a Legilimency probe prod at my mind and immediately tried to clamp down on my Occlumency. That proved to me a mistake however as the next probe was more like a sledgehammer and easily shattered my defences. I let out a groan of pain as blood began to drip from my nose.

"Ah, so you are one of Lucius's boys?" Hissed Quirrelmort, although I had a feeling that it was mostly just Voldemort at the moment, "How interesting. I look forwards to having someone as strong as you at my side."

I smirked.

"And what makes you think I'd ever join you?" I gasped, my voice rough from the Cruciatus caused screaming.

"And why not?" Hissed Voldemort, a condescending smile clear in his voice "Your father serves me loyalty and your mother, though she refused my Mark, is just as Loyal."

I had my doubts about that. Mother was a true Black, no matter how she may act in public, and Blacks never, ever served anyone.

"Because I am a Black," I spat, "And Blacks bow to no one, especially not to cowards who have to hide behind a fake name!"

That wiped the smile of Voldemort's face.

"That was unwise, boy," he hissed, raising his wand, the tip glowing a sickly green, "Lord Voldemort does not take insults lightly."

I swallowed, but refused to close my eyes. I'd already died once after all and its not like their was much I could do to stop him. I shifted my head slightly so I could see over Voldemort's shoulder, intending to order Lucy to get Holly out of here. However, what I saw made my eyes widen.

"Get away from him!"

Voldemort was suddenly struck from the side by a bolt of red light, blasting him off his feet and away from me. I slumped to the ground, unable to hold myself up as Holly placed herself resolutely between us, Zodiac Lance in her hands. I looked up at my closest friend through blurry vision, noting her shaking legs and heavy breathing. That wasn't to surprising though, not after she'd used Zodiac Lance. While anyone could technically use a Focus Gem if it was active, the weapon often fought against them and, if the wielder didn't possess dense magic, it was so draining that most would pass out from Magical Exhaustion after just a couple of spells. Combine that with the pain I had no doubt Holly was feeling from being so close to Voldemort and I was truly surprised she was still on her feet.

Voldemort regained his feet and glared at Holly.

"Potter," he hissed, hatred clear in his tone and raised his wand, "Well, this is an unexpected pleasure. I had hoped to be back to full strength before this confrontation, but this will do. AVADRA KEDAVRA!"

The bolt of green light was far faster than practically every spell I'd seen and I could easily see just how dangerous it was. A spell that killed instantly and moved nearly as fast as a bullet was incredibly hard to defend against, even if one was expecting it. I tried to move, to push Holly out of the way, but my muscles, still twitching slightly from the aftereffects of the Cruciatus curse, refused to respond. Holly seemed to have frozen, fear and panic clear in her stance as the deadly curse flew towards her.

"NO!" I shouted.

Then, the locket I'd bought Holly for Christmas began to glow and the Killing Curse splashed against the shimmering green barrier that sprang up in front of Holly. At this point, the last of my strength left me and I collapsed fully. The last things I saw before my consciousness fled was a large form leaping into the clearing and attacking Voldemort and Hollys worried eyes looking down at me.

 **And thats the end of that. Holy cow was that exhausting! I had a lot of ideas for how this fight would go down, but since I tend to think in images rather than words, when I actually came to write it, I had some real trouble translating it. I know this chapters a bit short, but I think thats as good a place to end as any.**

 **I hope you liked the fight with Volde! I did it to show just how outclassed Leo is when it comes to actual combat. Sure, hes probably the strongest of his age group and could probably go up against an upper year, Voldemort is on an entirely different level. Not only is he much, much more powerful, hes also got decades worth of experience on Leo who has never been in a real fight in his life.**

 **Well, I guess I'm signing of here. Until next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we are back and nearly done with the First Year. I'm not to sure how many more chapters it will take, but I'll ask this now so I don't forget. Would you guys prefer it if I split this story up into books or keep it as one? For now though, lets begin. Enjoy!**

Chapter 10

I groaned as consciousness slowly returned to me, wincing as my throat throbbed. I tried to move, but was quickly discouraged as my muscles protested loudly and my head throbbed. Everything hurt, and I do mean everything. I could literally feel my Magical Core throbbing in my chest. It was an extremely strange feeling and definitely not a comfortable one. I decided that, perhaps, laying still was the best option available to me at the moment.

As I lay there, I thought back over the confrontation in the forest and mentally scolded myself. I was arrogant. I had gone in assuming that Zodiac Lance would give me the advantage in the fight, completely neglecting the fact that I knew that Voldemort was an incredibly powerful Wizard with decades of experience under his belt. I think my expectations had been tainted by the stories I'd read in my previous life where little to no threat to Harry, neglecting to realize that this world was different. To make matters worse, Voldemort wasn't even at full power! That thought terrified me more than anything, the idea that I had been soundly defeated by a Voldemort who didn't even have a fraction of his full power. Maybe I should…

NO! I immediately squashed that thought before it could fully form and hardened my resolve. Sure Voldemort might outclass me at the moment, but I was still only Eleven. I was one of the most powerful students in my year, even without adding on my Dense Magic and Zodiac Lance and I could only get stronger as time went on. Magic naturally increased as one got older until it reached its peak at 17, but, like any muscle in the body, it could be trained. While most don't bother, Aurors, Hitwizards and professional duelers all exercised their magic to increase its potency. It took a long time, but it could be done and I fully intended to do just that.

Resolve now sufficiently hardened, I opened my eyes and looked around as best I could. I was in the Hospital Wing, no big shock there, in a bed surrounded by screens that blocked my view of the rest of the wing. A glance out the window told me it was late evening, which meant I had been unconscious for at least a day. Zodiac Lance was leaning against the table next to my bed, still in its active state and the chair next to my bed was inhabited by a sleeping Holly. The girl had her head resting on her crossed arms and, judging from how close my hand was to hers, she had been holding my hand before she'd fallen asleep.

I smiled fondly at the girl and gently rubbed her head, noting that her hair was out of its usual twintail style which, combined with her peaceful, sleeping face and the light that was streaming in from the window, turned her from a cute girl into a beautiful young woman. And wasn't that an odd thing to think about an eleven year old? Still, that didn't change the fact it was true. I still prefered the twintail look though. Holly shifted at my touch, leaning into my hand slightly.

"She hasn't left your side since Hagrid bought you in."

I looked up to see Madam Pomfrey stood at the end of my bed with a tray of potions.

"How long..?" I asked, keeping my voice down to avoid waking Holly.

"You've been unconscious for about a day," said the nurse, cutting me off, "A combination of magical exhaustion and Cruciatus exposure. Speaking of which, I believe that the Headmaster wants a word with you about that."

She put the tray down on the bedside table and started waving her wand over me, clicking her tongue as she did.

"Hmm, you seem to be recovering nicely. Your core has mostly refilled and it should be safe for you to use magic again shortly and you don't seem to be suffering any aftereffects of the Curse. Drink this."

She thrust a glass of purple potion into my hands and glared at me until I drank it all. It tasted like chlorinated water and I nearly gagged on it, but still managed to choke it down. Almost immediately, my throat started feeling better. After being given a couple more foul tasting potions, Madam Pomfrey left, leaving me with an order not to try any magic until she gave me the OK and to stay put. Apparently, although I was mostly alright, she still wanted to keep me around, just in case.

I turned my attention back to Holly, who was still fast asleep, and went back to gently stroking her hair. She shifted, letting out a low groan as she opened her eyes, blinking away the remnants of sleep. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw me sitting up and the next thing I knew I had an armful of crying girl.

"Hey, no need to cry," I said, rubbing her back, "I'm OK, I'm fine."

It took a few minutes, but eventually Holly calmed down enough to stop crying, although she didn't seem to be about to let go of me any time soon. I was tempted to ask what had happened after I lost consciousness, but I could probably guess and didn't really want to ruin the peaceful atmosphere. I was also pretty sure she'd gone back to sleep.

Unfortunately, it was ruined completely a few moments later when the doors of the Hospital Wing burst open to emit a large group of people who were all talking loudly.

"Amelia be reasonable…" said Dumbledore, only to be cut off.

"Albus, one of your students had been exposed to the Cruciatus curse," snapped the woman he was with, likely the monocle wearing and extremely formidable Amelia Bones, "That means that this is a matter for the DMLE. I'd also like to know whose idea it was to send five first years into the Forest at night with something capable of killing Unicorns on the loose."

"I'd like to know that as well," came the smooth voice of my father, although I could clearly hear a tight anger under the dulcet tones "Especially when two of those children were mine."

"Now now Lucius, no harm done," said Dumbledore, "Everyone got out safely so…"

"NO HARM DONE!"

I winced. Sounds like Mother was here and she was not happy.

"My son is in the Hospital with Cruciatus Exposure and you say No Harm Done?!"

"Now now Narcissa…"

"Don't 'now now' me Dumbledore…"

"What is going on out here?" Demanded Madam Pomfrey, cutting across Mother before she started swearing, "This is a hospital! Please keep your voices down."

"Apologies Poppy," said Madam Bones, "Is Mr Malfoy alright to talk to us?"

"He should be, but don't take to long," said Madam Pomfrey, "He's still recovering from Magical Exhaustion and needs his rest."

The sound of hurried footsteps reached my ears, before my mother rounded the edge of the screens. At the sight of Holly laying in my arms, she stopped and shot me a look. I shrugged.

"She won't let go of me," I said, keeping my voice low.

The fact she was still asleep after all the ruckus outside was nothing short of miraculous and I had to wonder just how long she'd been sat at my bedside. Mothers eyebrows shot up, but she didn't say anything, instead taking the seat Holly had vacated.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Better," I replied.

"Do you know who it was?" Asked Mother.

I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could the rest of the group rounded the screen. As expected, the group consisted of Dumbledore, Madam Bones and my Father, as well as to nameless Aurors who were so utterly generic I didn't even acknowledge their presence. As with Mother, the three important people paused when they saw Holly asleep in my arms, each with a different reaction. Madam Bones simply accepted it and moved on, while Father and Dumbledore both had expressions of surprise mixed with a well hidden sense of disgust and interest in my fathers case, likely because he didn't recognize her and probably assumed she was a Muggleborn. Dumbledore on the other hand looked worried, probably because he assumed that I was 'Dark' because of my family. Still, its not like he could actually do anything with both my parents and the head of the DMLE there.

"Good evening Mr Malfoy, I am Amelia Bones, head of the DMLE," said Madam Bones as she stepped up to my bed, "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about the...incident in the forest?"

"I can try, but I'm afraid I don't remember much of what happened," I replied.

That was a lie of course, but I wasn't sure how to tell her that Voldemort was out there or, more precisely, in the castle.

"I see, well then, tell me what you remember," she said.

I did as I was told, telling her most of what happened, only omitting the conversation we'd had.

"I see," muttered Madam Bones once I was finished, "Well, it sounds like you're lucky to be alive."

"I'd say so," I said, "In fact, I owe Holly my life."

Dumbledore and Father both stiffened at that, clearly realizing the significance of that. Mother gave Holly and I a scrutinizing look, before giving me a look that told me that she approved. Of what exactly I have no idea.

"Mmmhm," said Bones, "Well if you remember anything else, make sure you call me, OK?"

I nodded and the Head of the DMLE left, followed by the Headmaster, leaving me alone with my parents and the (surprisingly) still sleeping Holly. As soon as they left, Father rounded on me.

"I hope you have a very good reason for that," he hissed.

"What?" I asked.

"Saying you owe someone your life! You do know what that means, don't you?"

"I do," I said, not backing down and meeting my father's eyes, "And I have no problems admitting it. If it hadn't have been for Holly, I would have died in those woods. Their is no shame in admitting that Father."

"A Malfoy does not admit weakness in public!"

"How is admitting that you were completely outclassed weakness?" I asked, "Yes, I wasn't strong enough to win, but I'm alive and I can get stronger. Next time, I will be ready and I'll take my pound of flesh."

Lucius looked like he was going to argue, but before he could, Mothers voice cut across him.

"Enough you two," she said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Father glowered for a moment, before turning on his heel and marching from the room. Mother waited until she heard the door to the Wing close, before her stiff posture and Pureblood worthy icy mask slipped away and she smiled.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked, concern now clear in her tone.

"I'm fine mum," I said, slipping out of the formal tones used around Father.

Mum gave me a shrewd look.

"So, who's this?" She asked, indicating to Holly, "And why haven't I been told?"

"Told what?" I asked.

"That you had a girlfriend."

I immediately went bright red.

"W-what? N-no, its not like that!" I protested, "Holly and I are just friends!"

I caught Mums disbelieving expression.

"What? Its the truth!"

"I'm sure," said Mum doubtfully, "So, when can I expect grandchildren?"

I gave a high pitched whine that I still have no idea quite how I produced and tried to sink deeper into my bed, but the grip Holly had on me prevented me from doing so. A startled squeak drew my eyes to the girl to find that her eyes were open and her face was a brilliant red.

"H-Holly!" I squeaked, hoping that she hadn't heard Mums comment, "H-how long have you been awake?"

Mum gave an evil grin.

"She's been awake since Lucius left."

I let out a moan of embarrassment and buried my face in my hands. Mum ignored me and turned to Holly.

"Hello dear, I'm Leo's mother, Narcissa Malfoy," said Mum.

"Hello," said Holly in a quiet voice, "I'm Holly Potter."

Mums eyes widened ever so slightly and her eyes flicked to her forehead, despite the fact her scar was hidden under her fringe.

"I see, well Miss Potter, it seems that I owe you for saving my son," said Mum.

Holly blushed.

"I-it was nothing, I was just helping my friend," said Holly, "Besides, he's saved my life to."

Mum smiled and patted Holly on the shoulder.

"Even so, thank you Miss Potter. I hope I have a chance to get to know you properly in the future."

She stood and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"Goodbye son, I'll see you when you get home."

I returned the goodbye as mum vanished around the screen.

"Your Mum seems nice," said Holly as she climbed off me and retook her original seat.

"Yeah, too bad my dads a dick," I said, trying not to feel too disappointed from the lack of warmth, "So, what exactly happened after I passed out?"

Holly shivered slightly before answering the question.

"Well, a Centaur named Firenze arrived and chased that thing away," she said, "Hagrid arrived shortly after with Fang and Lucy and we brought you straight here. Thats it really."

"And I suppose that you've been here since then?" I asked.

Holly blushed and nodded. The blush increased as her stomach let out a loud rumble.

"When was the last time you ate?" I asked.

Holly ducked her head.

"Not since breakfast," she mumbled.

"Yes, when I kicked her out," said Pomfrey as she rounded the screens with two trays of food floating behind her, "You might as well eat in here miss Potter. Dinners almost over and theres no way you'd make it."

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey," said Holly, smiling happily at the Matron.

Pomfrey returned the smile, gave us a shrewd look and then left, muttering something about a pool under her breath. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what she meant by that.

 **And thats the end of this chapter! We got to see a bit of interaction between Leo and his parents and Dumbledore showed some manipulative tendencies. However, does that mean he's evil or just misguided? Only time will tell. Until next time, please leave me a review!**


	11. Chapter 11

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And we are back for more of this awesome story! Since I don't really have anything to address, lets dive straight into chapter 11!**

Chapter 11

Getting out of Hospital is a good thing. Getting out of Hospital just as exams start is not. Especially when you have a study maniac as a friend. As soon as I met her at breakfast the day I got out of the Hospital Wing, Hermione shoved a sheaf of notes into my hands and practically dragged me to the Library to study, completely ignoring the fact I'd only been out for a day and was already as prepared as humanly possible. Still, knowing better than to argue, I joined my friends in hitting the books.

One thing that had always been true for me that hadn't changed was that I never, ever got worked up about exams. My outlook was that you can't know the future and you can't change the past, so what's the point in worrying? Oh that's not to say I didn't prepare for them, but I didn't let myself panic. Hermione on the other hand seemed about ready to collapse from the stress and not even talking about Anime served to distract her. I can't wait for these exams to be over and I dread to think of what she'll be like in our OWL year.

* * *

Anyway, exams rolled around and, as expected, everyone did well, even if Hermione was worrying over the fact she thought she had failed everything. After our last exam (History of Magic) we all wondered down to the lake where we started doing our own things, Hermione and Daphne going over the exam questions, Blaise stretched out on his back, watching the clouds and Tracey reading one of those Choose your Own Adventure books I'd gotten her for Christmas. Holly and I were sat against Lucy, who was now roughly the same size as a van, watching the Weasley Twins and Lee Jordan tickling the tentacles of the Giant Squid where it was basking in the shallows. I glanced down at Holly, who was rubbing her scar again, something that she had been doing since the start of the Exam month.

"Are you OK?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she snapped, clearly agitated.

"Alright, no need to snap at me," I said.

"Sorry," she said sullenly, "I just wish I knew what this meant."

"What did the Nurse say?" I asked.

A few days prior, Holly had gone to see Madam Pomfrey about something, although she didn't tell me what it was.

"She couldn't find anything wrong with it," said Holly, "But its not like she has anything to go on."

"True," I said.

"I think its a warning," said Holly, "It means dangers coming."

"What kind of danger?" I asked, although I already knew.

"I don't know. I mean, while I don't think that Snape is after the Stone like Hermione and Neville, I can't help but worry that _someone_ is after it."

She let out a sigh.

"Maybe I'm being too paranoid. I mean, its not like Hagrid would ever...tell...anyone…"

Her eyes widened as her gaze fell on Hagrids hut in the distance. Suddenly, she jumped to her feet and started sprinting around the lake towards the half-giant's hut.

"Wheres she off to?" Asked Blaise sleeperly.

"Not sure, but it looks like shes going to talk to Hagrid," I said.

"Huh, wonder what's so important it couldn't wait," he mumbled, before closing his eyes and going to sleep.

I leant back against Lucy and pulled the latest issue of Claymore. Sure, I knew how the Manga ended from the last timeline, but that didn't change it from being an amazing read! A short while later, Holly returned, looking a little shaken, and immediately grabbed Neville and Hermione for a whispered conversation. I could guess what it was about, but decided not to interfere. I would offer my help later, but for now, I left the three to it. After whispering frantically to one another for a few minutes, the three darted off towards the castle. Their antics garnered some interest from the others, but Daphne had already started reading a book on politics and everyone else was more interested in relaxing after the Exams to care.

* * *

Later, after dinner, Holly and I were sat in the Ravenclaw Common room playing chess. However, I could easily see that Hollys attention wasn't on the game, instead she kept looking around the room nervously. Finally, after she made yet another stupid mistake that cost her a Rook, I decided to bite the bullet and ask.

"Alright, whats got you so distracted tonight?" I asked as I placed her King into Checkmate.

"What? I'm not distracted!" Protested Holly.

"Holly, I can tell something's up," I said, "You keep making mistakes you'd never make normally and you keep looking around as if you're expecting something to jump out and eat you. Come on, tell me whats wrong."

Holly looked around, checking to make sure that no one was listening, before leaning closer.

"Hermione, Neville and I are going down the trapdoor tonight," she whispered, "We went to Mcgonagall with our worries that someone might be after the Stone, but she brushed us off. I don't really want to know what whoever it is who's after the Stone wants to do with it, so we're going to try and get it first."

I suppressed the urge to sigh. I should have known this was coming. While Holly wasn't exactly the same as Harry in canon, there were a few similarities, most notably her saving people thing and her lust for adventure. I had no doubt that I had no chance in hell of convincing her not to go.

"Alright, when are you meeting?" I asked.

Holly blinked.

"What, you didn't think I'd let you go into danger without me, did you?" I asked with a smirk.

Holly hesitated for a moment.

"I'm not changing my mind Holly, so don't even try," I said.

Holly nodded.

"Alright, we're meeting outside the Gryffindor Common room at midnight," she said.

"In that case, I guess I should go get some rest," I said, getting to my feet, "See you later."

"Yeah...see you."

* * *

"That stupid, idiotic girl!" I muttered to myself as I darted through the shadowy halls of the school.

A few hours after I had gone to bed, I had woken up with the feeling that something was wrong. A quick check revealed that Holly wasn't in her room and I quickly deduced that she had already left for the Third Floor without me.

"I really hope she has a good explanation for this," I grumbled as I reached the door to Fluffys Room.

I peaked through the door to see the massive mutt sat directly over the trapdoor, glaring down into the tiny space. I flicked my wand and whispered the incantation for the charm I had looked up for this very reason. Immediately, music began to play, seemingly coming from nowhere, causing the Cerberus to slump down and start snoring. I resisted the urge to bang my head against something as the music was the Harry Potter theme song.

I moved over to the trapdoor and stepped into the darkness, activating Talaria to lower myself safely. The flight spell allowed me to quickly make my way to the door, avoiding the Devils Snare. I kicked the door open and swooped through, ignoring the flying keys in favor of just blasting the door down. It worked.

"Huh, well, thats interesting," I muttered, eyeing the now broken door, "Wonder why Quirrelmort didn't try that? Never mind."

I flew through the door and into the shattered remains of the Chess Room where an unconscious Neville lay with a startled looking Hermione kneeling next to her.

"Leo? What are you doing here?" She asked, "And how are you flying?"

"Saving your sorry asses," I said, "Wheres Holly?"

"S-she went on ahead," said Hermione, "But…"

I ignored whatever she was going to say and flew across the board, blasting apart the slowly reforming pieces before they could try to stop me. I ignored the Troll in the next room in favore flying straight through it and the potions room before the fire could activate. On the other side I took in the situation in an instant. Holly was backing away from Quirrelmort, who had his turban removed and his wand in his hand and glowing an ominous green.

"This is the end, Potter!" Hissed Voldemort.

I had to wonder if he was even capable of taking any other way. Not the time Leo!

I narrowed my eyes and activated the spear head on Zodiac Lance, before cranking up the speed and shooting into the room, slamming my staff into Quirrelmort and sending him flying across the room to slam into the Mirror.

* * *

POV CHANGE: HOLLY

Holly was cursing herself in her head as Quirrell advanced on her, wand raised and glowing. Here she was, paralyzed by the pain in her scar and fear as the monster that killed her parents and nearly killed her best friend prepared to kill her. She was going to die here, alone, just like her Uncle had said. And it was her own stupid fault! She had no doubt that Leo would have stood with her if she had only asked, but her conscience and fear of losing him had driven her to sneak out without telling him her real plans to try and keep him out of danger.

" _Leo, I'm sorry,"_ she thought as she closed her eyes.

"This is the end Potter!" Hissed Voldemort.

However, instead of the oblivion of death, Holly heard the sound of metal hitting flesh and the sound of glass shattering.

"You stupid, goddamn idiot!" Said a familiar voice.

Holly gasped and opened her eyes to see her best friend floating in front of her with his staff in hand, a golden blade thrumming at the tip.

"What were you thinking, coming here on your own?" Demanded Leo, anger and worry clear in his voice.

Holly looked down, tears swimming in her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, "I just…"

"Save it," said Leo, turning away from her to face Voldemort, who was struggling to his feet with glass shards sticking out of his body, "You can give your excuses after I've beaten this guy."

Leo swooped away and attacked Quirrelmort before he could regain his feet, scoring a cut across one arm with his Spellblade. Holly watched as her closest friend once again went toe to toe with Voldemort for her sake and, even though he was doing much better than last time, it was clear that he was still outclassed. Holly winced as a bolt of green light came dangerously close to hitting Leo, only avoided at the last second.

" _He's going to die,"_ thought the Girl-Who-Lived, _"He can't beat him. Its my fault!"_

As much as she didn't want to admit it, those thoughts were correct. On his own, Leo wouldn't last. He was getting a few hits, but Quirrelmort was to good, his reflexes to sharp. Eventually, Leo would make a mistake and then…

Holly shook her head, her fingers clenching, wishing she had her wand so she could help her friend but the focus was over by the Mirror.

" _Damn it, I can't do anything!"_ She thought as tears began to leak through her closed eyelids, _"Leos fighting for me and I can't help him! Damn it!"_

A thud and a gasp caused Hollys eyes to snap open and what she saw made her blood run cold. Leo had missed a dodge and been hit by one of Quirrelmort spells. Fortunately, it hadn't been the killing curse, but the black haired Malfoy was now leaning against one of the pillars with a hand clasped to his bleeding shoulder as the furious Dark Wizard advanced on him, wand tip once more glowing green.

"NO!" Shouted Holly, running towards her friend.

" _I have to help him!"_ She thought, _"I can't let him die!"_

Her hand instinctively went to the locket Leo had bought her, closing around the silver as the emerald began to glow brightly.

" **LOGGING ON, ECLIPSE STAFF."**

Holly gasped as she felt something inside her shatter and her scar split open, followed by a huge rush of power as something escaped her scar.

" **ACTIVATING, COMBAT MODE, CELESTIAL DRESS."**

The green light intensified and Holly felt her pullover and jeans change on her body and her hair be pulled into a pair of twintails. Finally, her fingers closed around a rod and she felt another rush of power. The light faded and Holly swung the staff, firing an arch of green energy that hit Quirrelmort and blasted him away from Leo, who was staring at her in confusion.

"I won't let you touch him!" She said, placing herself between Leo and Quirrelmort as he struggled to his feet, the side of his face burnt from the attack.

* * *

Leos POV

I wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but one thing I can tell you was that it was like something out of a Shonen Anime. One moment I was about to get blasted by Voldemort and the next Holly was lighting up like a Christmas tree and blasting him across the room. I stared at my friend as she stood determinedly in front of me. Her tatty, oversized clothing was gone, replaced by, and I can't believe I'm saying this, what can only be described as magical girl clothes. Her new outfit consisted of a pair thigh high of pink and black stockings, a pink skirt held up with a black and green belt with a star shaped buckle, a pink, sleeveless tunic with a sailor collar and red bow with a green, star shaped gem in the middle. Her hair was tied in twin tails with green star shaped decorations. In her hand was a staff made of a silvery metal and a green star inside a silver circle at the head with a pair of angel wings emerging from just below it.

I glanced down at Zodiac Lance.

"So, do you have some defencive gear?" I asked.

" **ACTIVATING, COMBAT MODE, CELESTIAL DRESS."**

I blinked as my clothes glowed for a moment, before they were replaced by an extremely comfortable and elegant black suit with a white undershirt, a belt with a star shaped buckle, a red tie with a white, star shaped gem decorating the knot and shiny, black shoes.

"Huh, well, I guess if you're going into battle, its better to dress to impress," I said as I got to my feet, my aches and pains washed away by the rush of power that came with the Dress.

I stepped up beside Holly, who gave me a startled look.

"Leo? Are you OK?" She asked.

I gave her a thumbs up and a wink that made her blush.

"Never better. Now whats say we end this?"

Holly stared at me for a moment, before a smile slowly crossed her face and she nodded. Quirrelmort finally managed to get to his feet, glaring at us with a fearsome scowl twisting his face.

"HOW DARE YOU BRATS!" He roared, "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT! NO ONE IS MORE POWERFUL THAN ME, ESPECIALLY NOT BRATS LIKE YOU!"

"You are quite right about that," I said as Holly and I clasped hands, "Alone we stand no chance. But, cliche as it is, together, we are stronger than anyone!"

Holly and I raised our staffs and crossed them in the air where they began to glow with white and green light that swirled together, creating a blinding twister of light.

" **UNISON RAID, GALACTIC BLAST."**

Said the two staffs in unison, before we brought our staffs down and fired a beam of swirling, white and green energy at the Dark Lord. Before Quirrelmort could move, the energy hit and vaporized him in an instant, before continuing on and blasting a hole in the wall, revealing a view of the lake, glimmering in the moon and star light.

"Well, that was a thing," I said as the energy faded.

"Yeah…" said Holly, "Listen, Leo, I'm sorry I came without telling you, I just…"

I put a finger on her lips to stop her. She went red at the gesture and looked down.

"Holly, I'm not angry," I said, "I'm annoyed and a little hurt. I think I know why you left without telling me. You wanted to keep me safe, right?"

Holly looked down and nodded.

"I thought so," I said, "Do you really think I need protecting?"

Holly shook her head, looking up to meet my eyes.

"No, I don't," she said, "But...I don't want to see you in a hospital bed again."

"And you think it'll be any better for me?" I asked.

Holly winced and looked back down.

I sighed and hugged Holly closer.

"Look, I get it, neither one of us wants the other to get hurt, but if we work together, that won't happen. I mean, look at that."

I pointed at the hole in the wall.

"I don't think either of us could have done that alone, do you?"

Holly shook her head.

"Their you go, our power combined is greater than when we're alone," I said, before frowning, "And I cannot believe I just said that."

Holly giggled and snuggled closer to me.

"So does this mean I'm forgiven?" She asked.

"So long as you don't do something stupid like this again," I said with a grin, "Now come on, lets go to bed."

Holly nodded and pulled away, moving over to the mirror to pick up her wand. However, she'd only gone a few steps before she swayed and fell.

"Oh hell," I muttered, darting forwards to catch her.

I gently lowered her to the ground as her clothes returned to normal and her staff returned to her locket. I gave her a quick once over and immediately noticed that her scar had split open and was bleeding a thick, tar like substance. Looks like the Horcrux in their had been destroyed and I was willing to bet that that, plus the sudden rush of power had overloaded her Magical Core. I grabbed her wand, before scooping Holly into my arms and hurrying out of the Mirror Chamber.

 **And thats the end of this chapter. Yes, that did indeed just happen, I went for the absolute bottom of the barrel for that ending, but it makes as much sense as Love being able to burn Quirrelmort. At least this was a massive laser beam. Still, could have been worse. I could have had** **Quirrelmort** **scream 'Drat, I've been foiled by the power of Love!' As he died.**

 **Hollys outfit is based on Serafalls from DXD, only it fits her and their are a few alterations. You might have spotted a pattern emerging in Focus Gems and theres a reason for that. I intend for two more people to get Focus Gems and join up with Holly and Leo in their fights. Any guesses as to who?**

 **Also, yes, Claymore is amazing, that wont change, even across dimensions.**

 **To** **Timdraco, I don't need Z** **elretch to turn Holly into a Magical Girl when I can do it myself!**

 **Anyway, I think thats enough for now, so until next time, which should actually finish the first year. Until then please leave a review!**


	12. Chapter 12

Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac

After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.

 **And here we go, the last chapter of the First Year. Enjoy!**

Chapter 12

Three Days. Thats how long Holly was out of it for. According to Madam Pomfrey, she was recovering from a magical surge that had resulted from the sudden removal of both a block on her Core and some kind of Magical Parasite that had been feeding on her magic. The removal of one could be stressful on one's magic, but both at the same time, apparently Holly was lucky she was alive. The fact she had a block on her core worried me greatly, especially after Madam Pomfrey revealed that, with the removal of the Block Hollys magic had gained the density needed to be classified as a Warmage. Since then I hadn't left my friends side except for meals and bathroom breaks.

It was after one of these breaks that I nearly ran into Dumbledore as he left the Hospital Wing.

"Sorry sir," I said, stepping to one side.

"No problem Mr Malfoy," said the old man with a kindly grin, before sweeping past me and disappearing down the hall.

I stared after him, not sure what to make of the look on his face before he had schooled it into his normal grandfatherly smile. It was a look of worry and fury. That...didn't look good. I shook myself off and entered the Hospital Wing to find Holly sat up in bed, looking down at something in her lap with a sad look on her face.

"Hey, your finally awake," I said as I approached.

Holly looked up as I approached and I saw tears in her eyes.

"Oh, hello Leo," she said, sounding upset.

"Whats wrong?" I asked, sitting down in the chair next to her bed.

Holly sniffed and held up what was in her hand. It was her wand, or rather, what was left of it. To be honest, I had expected that after Pomfrey mentioned that her magic was now Dense, but not to this extent. Maybe it was because the wand had been matched to her magic or maybe she was that powerful, but the Holly and Phoenix Feather wand was split nearly in half, with the tattered remains of the feather clearly visible.

"Ah," I said, "Right, that."

Holly blinked at me.

"You mean you knew this was going to happen?" She asked.

"Yep. I guess you haven't talked to Pomfrey yet, have you?"

"No, I've only just woken up," she said, "I spoke with Professor Dumbledore though. He gave me some rubbish about Love being what beat Voldemort down there."

"Yeah, that does sound daft doesn't it," I said with a grin, "Anyway, you don't need to worry about your wand. It's actually a good sign."

"How is my wand breaking in my hand a good sign?" Demanded Holly.

"Well, it means that your Magic is to Dense to be used with a wand, like mine."

"Mr Malfoy is correct Miss Potter," said Pomfrey as she approached, "I'm not entirely sure how, but while you were down there you broke a block that been placed on your Core, limiting you to about 25% and thinning your magic out. You'll find that your a lot more powerful now its gone and you'll need to see Ollivander to get a Focus Gem."

"I don't think that will be needed," I said, "Holly's locket apparently has a Focus Gem set into it."

Holly gasped and her hand jumped to her throat, which was bear.

"Where is it?" She asked, looking around frantically.

"With the rest of your things," said the matron, "Give me a moment."

She disappeared into her office, leaving Holly and I alone.

"So whats with the violent reaction?" I asked.

Holly blushed and looked down, mumbling something under her breath.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that," I said.

Holly shook her head and refused to reply as Pomfrey returned with the silver necklace. Holly practically snatched the locket and put it over her head, resting it over her heart. As soon as it touched her skin, the emerald flashed.

" **ECLIPSE STAFF, READY."**

Holly smiled and relaxed against her pillows. Pomfrey shooed me out as she gave Holly a quick check over now she was awake, before letting me back in.

"So, what did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?" I asked.

"Just, things," she said, not meeting my eyes, "He said that the Flamels were going to destroy their Stone."

"Riiight," I said, eyeing my friend curiously.

For some reason the way she said that made me worried, but there wasn't really anything I could do if she didn't tell me what was bothering her.

* * *

Fortunately, now that she was awake, the danger had mostly past and, after a few more days bed rest, Pomfrey let Holly go, just in time for the End of Year Feast. As expected, Dumbledore did is bullshit final points, meaning that Ravenclaw won the House Cup. With the year now wrapping up, our exam results came in and, as expected, everyone in our little group had done well, even Neville. On the last day of term, I was making sure that I had everything when a loud crack made me jump. I turned and saw a familiar little elf stood on my bed.

"Dobby, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" I hissed.

"Sorry master," said Dobby, looking sheepish.

The little house elf that so many fans loved was looking a heck of a lot better than he did when Harry first met him in canon, mainly because I had convinced Father to give me him as a personal elf and promptly ordered him to never punish himself. That said, he was just as eccentric as ever and had taken a liking to my Manga collection, leading to some rather bizarre behavior as he started emulating some characters. Practically every time I saw him he was in a different costume and quoting a different character. Right now he was wearing what can only be described as a miniature Butler uniform, which was better than the time he'd shown up in a maids uniform for some reason known only to himself.

"Its fine Dobby," I said, sitting on the bed, "Did you get it?"

Dobby nodded and held up a cage containing a fat rat.

"Dobby took the Rat Man from the Weasel and replaced it with a normal rat," said Dobby.

"Thanks Dobby, your the best," I said, taking the cage that contained Pettigrew and was heavily enchanted to keep him from escaping.

"Please, if Dobby could not do this much then what kind of an Elf would he be?" Asked Dobby with what could have possibly been a mysterious smile, but looked silly.

"Have you been reading Black Butler again?" I asked.

Dobby just grinned and vanished with a crack.

"Cheeky little blighter," I muttered as I slipped Pettigrew into my bag.

I'd call Madam Bones when I get home, show her Pettigrew and get Sirius out of prison.

* * *

The trip back was uneventful and was spent playing games, reading and talking about nonsense that all kids talked about. The train pulled into Kings Cross and everyone said their goodbyes, heading off to join their families, or disappearing through the barrier. Holly gave me a tight hug, before she hurried off, vanishing into the crowd before I could see where she had gone. She had also avoided telling me what she would be doing over the summer and that worried me. It worried me a lot.

Before I headed over to join my family, I ducked into one of the trains bathrooms and called Dobby. The excitable elf appeared, still cosplaying Sebastian.

"Yes Master Leo?" He asked.

"Dobby, can you keep an eye on Holly for me?" I asked, "I'm a bit worried about her. If anything happens to her, come get me alright?"

"Yes Master, Dobby will watch Master Leos Holly!" He said, before vanishing with a crack.

I sighed and left the train, heading over to join my family where Mum greeted me with a warm hug and Father with a nod, before we left the Station vire portkey.

 **And thats the end of that. Dobbys here and hes just as nutty as ever. To make matters worse, hes gotten into Leos manga collection, so expect some crazy cosplay.**

 **This short chapter marks the end of this first story, but the next is on its way. Keep your eyes peeled and until next time, le**


End file.
